Sun, sand and desicions
by Kirstt
Summary: What happens when Renesmee has to make her desicion? Who will she choose? Her sun or her sand? Set after Breaking Dawn. All usual pairings. All vampire and wolf, apart from those who aren't :P. Rated T for safe. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary : What will happen when Renesmee has to make her desicion? Who will she choose? Her sun or her sand?**

**Disclaimer : I don't own Twilight. I wish i did but i don't**

**Thank to my brilliant beta : EdwardBellaLuver1991! She's brill :)**

Bella's POV

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Renesmee, happy birthday to you!"

Everyone broke out in applause as Renesmee blew out the candles on her overly extravagant birthday cake, courtesy of Alice and Rosalie. Renesmee was seven years old today, the day at which she supposedly reached full maturity. Nobody had any doubts about; she was the same size as a teenager, and had all the abilities that a fully grown adult had.

Jacob had stayed as close as possible to Renesmee through the seven years, keeping an eye out for her and protecting her from anything that could be in the slightest bit dangerous. Renesmee always liked to argue the case that she didn't need protecting with her granite hard skin and faster than lightning run, but everyone could tell that she enjoyed having Jacob around.

"Hip, hip," Emmett boomed.

"Hooray!" chimed in the rest of the Cullen family. They were all gathered around the large antique table in the dining room that held the birthday cake and various other items of food, all laid out for Renesmee's friends who were there to celebrate her birthday.

"Aw, Ness! I can't believe your finally sixteen!" Catrin, one of Renesmee's closest friends ran up to hug her as I threw Edward a bemused look over the top of the piles of presents that had stacked up.

"I know! I can't wait to drive!" Renesmee replied flinging and excited glance at her father. He had given her her new car earlier that day. A new Mini cooper in black, just the car she had wanted.

"As long as you don't run anyone over. That could cause problems." Edward muttered, only loud enough for the vampires to hear.

I found myself inwardly grinning as I heard what Edward had said. I still haven't adjusted to my new life with my new abilities even though it's been seven years. Seven years! It had been so long, but the time always seemed to fly by. Most of my time was spent with Edward, Renesmee and of course Jacob, seeing as how he was practically attached to my daughter. I didn't mind it though. Jacob had grown closer to Renesmee as she'd grown up, also forming a good bond with Edward, and of course I had always been close to Jacob, apart from the time that I lunged at him, but I didn't like to remember that. No-one did anymore, not since Jacob had become such a permanent part of the family.

"Mum, we're going outside, OK?" Renesmee asked me as she darted to my side, careful to avoid the sight of her friends.

"If you want. Be careful though," I warned, thinking of the animals that lived in the woodland not too far from the house. "Keep out of the forest."

"But Mum! I wanted to show the girls my room!" Renesmee whined.

"Fine, show them your room, but go straight to the cottage and then come straight back." Edward chimed in. He always gave into Renesmee much faster than I ever did.

As Renesmee and her friends ran out of the back door we started to clear some of the food away.

"Oh my gosh! We should make party bags! For the girls, of course. They would love them!" Alice screamed, earning a shush from Carlisle and a warning of the girls overhearing us from Esme.

"Alice, what do we have that could go in party bags that sixteen year old girls would like?" Edward said, an amused smile lighting up his face.

"Well, we have the cake, obviously, and we could get loads of things from somewhere. I could go down to Port Angeles before the morning and pick up some things. It would be perfect, I bet Nessie would like it." Alice sang as she skipped through the entry way to the kitchen.

"Aren't you forgetting something Alice?" Edward asked as he followed her through to the kitchen.

"No, I don't think so. Why?" Alice asked, a confused look started to spread across her features.

"They're sixteen year old girls. They won't want party bags." Edward replied laughing a little.

We all watched Alice's expression change from confusion to comprehension and then finally her eyes took on a glazed over appearance and we left her to search the future. She was probably checking what kind of reception her party bags would get with the girls.

"They'll love them!" Alice suddenly screamed, her grin back on her face.

I saw Edward roll his eyes out of the corner of my eye and heard Emmett start to laugh in the dining room.

"I wondered why you had gone so quiet, pixie. Looking at the future, were you?" Emmett said, chuckling as he came into the kitchen, not bothering to move or talk at human pace now that our guests had gone outside with Renesmee.

"Rose!" Alice screamed, leaving the room after throwing a sarcastic look at Emmett, causing him to laugh even harder.

Moments later, we heard the front door slam and the engine of a car start up. Alice and Rose had gone to get things to go in the party bags.

"Well, you can all go and do what you want, I'll finish clearing this up" Esme said, moving towards the dining room.

We all thanked Esme and split up to do what we wanted around the house. I followed Edward through to the living room where he took a seat on the piano bench in front of the piano. He then proceeded to pat the seat next to him on the bench, indicating that I should sit down beside him. Of course I did that without a second thought. Then I sat and listened to Edward play as his fingers moved silently over the keys, the sound of my lullaby filling the house.

**Next chapter up soon. :)**

**Please R&R! It would make my day :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or it's characters :/**

**Long chapter seeing as it took so long to update :)**

**Enjoy. :)**

Bella's POV

"Bye you guys! Thanks for coming!" Renesmee stood by the front door, waving madly to her departing friends.

"Bye Ness!" I faintly heard as someone got into their car.

"That was so much fun!" Renesmee said, coming to sit beside me on the sofa.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." I said, turning to face her.

"The party bags were a great idea, Mum, who thought of them?" She asked, unable to keep the smile off her face.

"Who else?" I replied, my own smile matching that off my daughters.

"Alice," Renesmee said as she started to laugh. She then proceeded to get up off the sofa and head out the back door, presumably to the cottage.

Seconds later, she returned, dressed in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of dolly shoes, birthday presents off Alice. "How do I look?" She asked spinning round.

"As gorgeous as ever," I replied, watching her brown eyes light up slightly.

"Can I go out, Mum?" Renesmee asked, turning to face the big gilt framed mirror that hung at the front of the living room.

"Of course you can. Who are you going out with? Jacob, I expect," I said, watching her fiddle with her hair until she was satisfied that it was sitting just right.

"Yeah, just with Jacob. We're probably going down to First Beach. It's supposed to be a nice day today, brilliant for cliff diving!" Renesmee exclaimed, starting to get excited thinking about the fun that she was sure to have with Jacob.

"Why don't you ask some of your friends from school to go with you? You never see them outside of school apart from at birthday parties," I asked.

"Oh my gosh! I never thought of that. That would be so cool! I could get Catrin to come, although I think Maddie is on holidays at the moment so she wouldn't be able to come." Renesmee said, listing her friends and trying to figure who would be able to go with her and who wouldn't.

"Why don't you ring them now. The house phone is here," I said, reaching for the phone that lay on the table at one end of the sofa.

"Eeek! Thanks, Mum! This is going to be great!" Renesmee squealed as she ran off to make her calls.

I laughed as I heard her voice talking animatedly to whoever was on the other end of the line, Catrin from the sound of it.

I jumped sharply as I heard footsteps approaching me from behind. Emmett's laugh reverberated loudly through the house as he collapsed onto the sofa next to me, making it groan precariously under the sudden impact of his weight.

"Did I scare you, little sister? Emmett teased, shoving me lightly in the arm.

"No, Emmett," I answered sarcastically. "I just jump all the time for no apparent reason."

"Ooooh, touchy," was his terse reply.

"Idiot," I muttered.

"So little sister, Renesmee's finally reached full maturity. Doesn't that mean that Jacob is free to tell her about the imprinting thing? Ooh, I wonder what they'll get up to in that cottage of yours. Nothing like you and Edward, I hope, but then again, hope never really seems to come through for me. I always seem to get the opposite of what I hope for." Emmett said, trying to wind me up.

He still hadn't forgiven me for beating him at arm wrestling seven years ago.

"Well Emmett, if you always get the opposite of what you hope for, you better hope that I don't kill you," I replied, rising from the sofa.

I could hear Emmett's silent laugh as I ran from the living room.

Renesmee's POV

I hung up the phone and ran down the stairs, only to find Emmett sprawled across the sofa instead of my mother, sitting daintily.

"Where's Mum?" I asked, heading for the back door.

"I don't know. Probably outside. Just don't take Jacob into the cottage with you, OK, Ness? I think your mother would prefer if you didn't," Emmett replied, his body shaking with laughter.

"Um, OK," I called as I headed out the back door. "Mum, I'm going now. I'm going to pick up Catrin and Becci, and then we're going to meet Jacob at First Beach. I probably won't be home until later this evening," I said, not having to shout as loud as my mum came into sight.

"Ok, be careful," she called back, walking away into the forest.

Probably to hunt or to go to the cottage. I walked back through the house, ignoring more snide comments from Emmett about the cottage and Jacob. I didn't know what he was talking about, so why should I worry?

My car was parked in the garage alongside all the other cars that the household owned, including two motorbikes, my mum's and Jasper's. As I got into my car, I revved the engine, feeling it purr beneath my feet. I pulled out of the garage onto the long graveled driveway. I set off through the lane, watching as I saw deer and elk skipping through the trees. I was picking up Becci first, she lived in Forks.

I knocked on the yellow front door to Becci's house, the smell of freshly baked bread filling my nostrils. Becci's mum was always baking; bread, cakes, biscuits, everything.

"Hey Ness! Give me two sec while I grab my shoes." Becci flung open the front door, wearing a pair of board shorts and a logo top.

"Sure, I'll just wait in the car, come out when you're ready." I replied, watching her run around the front entrance way of her house.

I made my way back down the tiled path leading to her front door and swiftly got back into my car. The smell of human food still disgusted me and the bread smell was making me nauseous.

"Hey!" Becci called as she swung open the passenger side door, "I can't wait for today! I brought some swimming stuff and a towel like you said. What am I going to need them for? Are we swimming in the sea?"

"You can swim in the sea if you like Bec, but I was thinking more along the lines of cliff diving. It's where you jump off one of the cliffs lining the shore, and let yourself fall into the water." I explained, driving down the road.

"Um, that sounds a bit dangerous to me. Are you sure it's safe?" She asked, fear evident in her voice.

"Like I said, you don't have to do it but it is completely safe. It gives you such a thrill too. I love it," I said, carefully keeping my eyes on the road. I could walk away from a car crash, Becci couldn't.

As we pulled up in front of Catrin's house, Becci swung open her door, volunteering to go and get Catrin.

It had turned into a lovely day with the temperature in the high 104 degrees. I was glad I had worn only a short sleeved t-shirt but I was regretting wearing jeans. I was just thankful that we would be at the beach soon and I could get into the water.

"Hey Nessie. Thanks for inviting me!" Catrin said, as she climbed into the back seat, Becci taking the front seat.

"That's fine Cat. Got your swimming stuff and a towel?" I asked.

"Yep, right here." Catrin answered holding up her bag.

"Good." I answered, watching the trees of La Push coming into view. I knew that soon I would be able to see the first houses of the reservation.

Sure enough, as the trees faded out, the houses came into view. I pulled up in front of Jake's house, seeing the Rabbit parked outside. Jake had moved back home with his dad soon after the truce with Sam. Paul and Rachel had moved out and were now living together in a small house on the reservation.

Wondering why he hadn't set off for the beach yet, I got out of the car and walked up to the front door. As I approached the door swung open and Billy wheeled himself outside in his wheelchair.

"Hey Nessie. Jake's inside getting ready, he woke up late this morning." Billy explained, ushering me inside. "He said to send you to his room when you got here."

"Thanks Billy." I said, watching the old man's fragile arms as he tried to wheel himself around and head back indoors. I knew there was no point in offering him any help; he always refused.

I navigated my way down the little hallway which lead to one room; Jake's room. I knocked on his door, giving him some time in case he wasn't dressed yet.

"Hey Ness," Jake said, opening his door and leaning against the door frame. He towered over me by about a foot and a half, me being close to five foot five and him being close to seven foot. "Do you want to come in or shall we just go straight to the beach?"

"Well I hope you don't mind but I invited some friends along and they're waiting in the car." I said, watching his face for any sign of emotion.

At first I saw none, but then I thought I saw a hint of disappointment.

"That's fine Ness. Who did you invite? Catrin and Maddie?" Jake asked, trying to look casual.

"No, Maddie's on holidays at the moment, so I invited Catrin and Becci," I said, walking back down the hallway, closely followed by Jake.

We got outside and I could see that Becci had climbed into the back seat so that Jake could sit in the front next to me. We both got into the car, Jake hunching his shoulders to try and fit through the small door. I had never seen my car as small, I had actually seen it as quite large but seeing Jake's squished frame I could see that it was nowhere near as big as I'd thought it was.

As we set off down the road towards First Beach, I could see who I presumed was Sam and some of his pack, already taking advantage of the warm, sunny weather. They were taking turns running up to the edge of the cliffs and throwing themselves off into the ocean below them. Jacob watched as one of the boys ran up to the edge but instead of flinging himself off the edge, pushed another boy off the edge. Laughing, Jake settled back into the leather of the seat he was sat in. We would be joining them soon and I hoped the water would stay as calm as it was. I pulled into a parking space along side Sam's VW van. We all piled out and headed to the beach.

We all trekked down to a place on the beach where there were already three beach chairs set up and a few towels. Already lounged across the towels, soaking up the rays, were Emily, Rachel and Claire, who sat on Emily's stomach, playing with her hair. Becci laid out her towel and collapsed down beside Rachel while me, Jake and Catrin headed up to the cliffs to join Sam, Paul and Quil.

We all hiked up the trail, made difficult by the fact that Catrin and I were wearing flip-flops. We finally reached the top of the cliffs and saw that only Sam was left at the top. We all waved as he ran to the edge and leaped off. I could tell that Catrin was worried about the cliff diving but didn't pay it much attention. She would see that it was safe enough when we all jumped off.

"Ready?" I heard from behind us.

Turning around I saw the face of Quil, grinning widely from ear to ear, closely followed by Paul. I returned their grins and pulled off my jeans and top, so I was standing in my bikini. Catrin, seeing that we were preparing to jump, quickly took of her shorts and top, as did Jake.

Paul motioned for me to go first, so I took a deep breath and stepped back to give myself more of a run up. I ran, slowly enough not to alert Catrin to my unnatural speed, but fast enough to build up a decent height when I pushed off the rock. Falling through the sky I felt like a bird that had lost the ability of it wings so was just slowly and steadily soaring towards the ground. I kept my lips closed tightly, breathing through my nose so as not to get a mouthful of water when I reached the water's depths. As I was about to plunge into the vast expanse of water I faintly heard Paul and Quil coaching Catrin on what to do. I wondered why Jake wasn't helping but when I turned my head a fraction of an inch, I saw that he had jumped off straight after me. Probably in case anything went wrong. He hated me being on my own. He always said it was for my protection but sometimes it was just annoying.

I dipped into the water about two meters from where Jake plunged, and about three seconds before. I lifted my head through the waves and looked around, searching for the face with the long hair, stuck to his face with water but saw none. Frantically trying to spot Jake amongst the blue, I was startled when I felt two hands grip my legs. Fearing the worst, I began to thrash around violently in the water, only to have legs released and to see Jake's head bob up through the water. He was laughing too hard to try and speak, so I left him in the middle of the ocean and swam back to shore, before climbing back the cliff trail again.

For the next hour or so, I dived off the cliffs, sometimes with Jake, sometimes with Catrin and Jake. By the time we got back down to the beach I was exhausted. Becci seemed to be really hitting it off with Rachel and Emily and even had Claire sat on her lap now. Flopping down onto the towels that were already set out, I tried to find the gist of what they were talking about. A lot of names of various stores were mentioned so I presumed they were talking about shopping of some sort. Realizing that it was a conversation I would be useless at contributing to, I turned to face the boys, all gathered round a small pile of wood, trying to light a fire.

"Ness, did Bella give you a certain time that you had to be home by?" Jake inquired, coming to sit beside me on another towel.

"No, I said I would probably be out late so she shouldn't mind what time I get home. Why?" I answered, shifting my body weight so that I was more comfortable and facing him.

"No reason. I was just wondering really," Jake said, turning his eyes to the small, now lit, fire.

"Can't wait to get rid of me, eh?" I joked, watching the flames lick up towards the sky in shades of green and blue.

Jake laughed and placed his hand over mine.

"Of course not Ness. You know I love spending time with you," He answered, taking my other hand as well and dragging me onto his lap.

I curled up against his chest, letting his warmth seep through the thin layer of my top. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, burying his head in my hair.

"I thought you lot couldn't stand the smell of us," I said, knowing that he would understand that I was talking about him and his friends, the shape shifters, and me and my family, the vampires.

"Well, I suppose I've gotten used to it now. And plus, you're part human at least. So you don't smell as bad," He whispered, making sure Becci and Catrin couldn't overhear.

I laughed before burying myself deeper into his chest, trying to keep myself warm. The sun had gone down and now there was a brisk wind coming off the ocean.

"Maybe you had better take Catrin and Becci home. They look very cold and it's getting late now anyway," Jake suggested, leaning back onto his elbows.

"Yeah, I probably should. Told you that you couldn't wait to get rid of me," I said, unfolding myself from Jake's lap. "Hey Cat, Bec, I think it's time to go," I called, out towards the five silhouettes I could see.

Two of them got up, dusting the sand from their clothes and started to walk over to me so I assumed that they thought it was time to go as well. I headed towards my car, the girls changing their direction so they would meet me by the car as well. The whole ride home was filled with bubbling excitement from Catrin and Becci as they reminisced about their adventures that day. I listened intently, until it went suddenly silent, apart from a few ushered whispers.

"Ness, is Jake your boyfriend?" Catrin asked tentatively from where she sat beside me.

Her and Becci had decided that since Becci had ridden in the front on the way to the beach, Catrin would sit in the front on the way from the beach.

I almost choked on thin air as she asked her question, and I tried to concentrate on my driving and not laughing too much as I answered.

"Um, no, he's not. Why would you think that?"

"Just because you two were like, inseparable today. He was always around you and then on the beach, you were sitting on his lap. We just thought…" Her voice faded out as she realized her mistake and I saw the blush rise into her cheeks in my rear view mirror.

My response was just to laugh at her, thinking of how much me and Jacob did act like a couple. We were just friends though. We were both happy being just friends as well, weren't we? I used to think I was but Catrin's question and reasoning had made me second guess myself. Maybe I did like Jake as more than a friend. Maybe I did love him. I knew that I couldn't stand being away from him for too long and from the way he acted, I think he felt the same too.

I drove into the garage, parking beside my dad's car. Thinking about how I felt about Jake had made me feel uneasy. I just wanted to go inside and collapse on the sofa for a while. I walked through the door that connected the garage to the kitchen and was stopped by my mum coming through the door to the living room.

"Ness, you're back. We were just about to settle down and watch a movie, the whole family. It would be great if you could join us. Jake came while you were out. Said that you were taking your friends home," She said, her voice chiming like bells. She had finally picked up on calling me Nessie and Ness instead of Renesmee all the time, Renesmee being too long.

"Sure, a movie sounds great, which one? Jake is here? He didn't say he was coming by." I said, moving to lean against the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"I think we're watching 'Yes man', it was Emmett's choice tonight," she explained.

I moved out of her way as she passed me and went through to the living room where everyone was gathered. I sank down into the sofa beside Jake who was already seated there, beside Carlisle and Esme. Jasper was sat in another chair with Alice perched in his lap. Emmett was in another chair, Rose sat at his feet, painting her nails. My mum had just sat in dad's lap as the film started. I settled down to watch the film, moving into Jacob's arms.

The next thing I knew, I was being carried upstairs by a pair of warm arms. Assuming that I had fallen asleep during the film and that Jacob was taking me upstairs to bed, I let my eyes flutter shut again and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

**Please R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

Chapter three

Jacob's POV (bear with me, I don't really know how to write as Jacob)

As I laid Renesmee down into her bed, I thought about what I had been going to tell her tonight. I was finally going to tell her about the imprinting, but then she went and invited her friends, and then her family wanted to watch a film. She fell asleep before it ended, so I didn't get a chance.

I wasn't particularly disappointed. I was nervous about how she would react to what I was going to tell her, and this gave me more time to prepare what I would say when the time was right. I didn't want her to think that she had to be my girlfriend just because I had imprinted on her, although it would crush me if she chose someone else. I wanted her to live her life the way she wanted to, and if that meant without me, then I would have to learn to cope, just like I did with Bella.

I walked back through the forest and through the back door, the smell of the vampires hitting me in the face but not bothering me. It still didn't feel right that I could bear the smell of vampires when my old reaction would have been to gag and get away as fast as possible.

Alice and Jasper were still sat in their chair, talking quietly amongst themselves. Emmett and Rosalie had excused themselves and gone up to their room. I didn't know where Carlisle and Esme had gone to and Bella and Edward had joined me in Nessie's room shortly after I had lain her on the bed.

We always watched her dreams. We knew that it was wrong and an invasion of privacy but we couldn't stop ourselves. Her dreams were always so vivid.

Tonight her dreams were about me. She was dreaming about how she felt about me, something that caused both Edward and Bella to clench their muscles in annoyance. Something that had caused a smile to light up my face. Hearing that the centre of your universe loves you always makes you happy. Well, more like overjoyed. There are really no words to describe how happy it makes you.

Renesmee's POV

I woke up to bright sunlight filtering through the gap in my curtains. Drawing them back and pulling up the blinds, I watched the sunlight dancing off the leaves that made up a canopy over the house. Large oak trees stood around the garden borders, making a small enclosure for our house to nestle securely in. Seeing the trees' large trunks in formation around the cottage always gave me a sense of security. As if the wooden giants were keeping watch at all times.

Turning from the window and the already awake woodland, I quickly made my bed, throwing the sheets in the wash and finding new ones in the laundry cupboard. Showering and dressing at top speed, I was in the main house before everybody else was stirring from their nights activities. The house, although silent, was full of activity. If I strained my ears to the maximum that they could hear, I could just about hear the pages of a book turning upstairs and someone humming a melody so faintly that a normal human would be unable to hear it, even if they were stood next to the hummer.

Walking back through the garden to the woods and into the cottage, I thought I could hear something. Something other than the woodland. Something moving through the trees. Instead of seeming like protection, the trees now seemed like enemies, hiding all threats from my view. Speeding up a bit, I entered the cottage locking the front door behind me. I doubted the lock would stop anything that I had the need to be scared of but it made me feel better.

Cracking open my parents' door the tiniest fraction of an inch, I saw my mother sitting at her dressing table, doing her hair, and I could hear the shower going in their bathroom, indicating that my father was in the shower.

I had finally gotten used to calling Edward and Bella by their names, not by mum and dad, late last night. I had been trying all week, before the start of school. Now I was starting high school for the first time I had to be careful. People would probably find it weird if I called them mum and dad.

I didn't want to start high school but all my friends went there and found it strange that I was 'home-schooled'. Truth is that I had never been to school because I didn't need to. I had learnt everything up to A-Level standard and beyond from everyday life in the Cullen household. But we didn't want to draw even more attention to the family so I was starting comp. All the other Cullens, except Carlisle and Esme, already went to school. They had been since we had moved to the area, about two years ago. They were all posing as Carlisle and Esme's foster children, something they had apparently been doing for a long time.

Sitting on the edge of my parents' bed, Bella turned her head to look at me in her antique gilt framed mirror.

"Ready for your first day?" She asked, turning around fully on her stool to face me. She was wearing a pair of dark denim jeans, a logo top and a long

cardigan.

"No." I said, putting on my best sulky face.

"Don't give me that look." She laughed, turning back around to face the mirror.

"What look?" Edward asked, emerging from their bathroom, dressed in stone wash jeans and blue v-neck sweater. "Oh, that look." He said, laughing as he watched my face, "What have you got to be so grumpy about?" He asked,

ruffling my hair.

"School." I scowled at him, smoothing my hair back down. He sighed, an amused smile, playing at the corners of his lips.

"See, if you had hair like mine, you wouldn't need to spend so much time and effort on it." He said, running his hand through his freshly washed hair. I simply rolled my eyes and left the room to go and collect my things ready to leave the house.

Walking through the forest, I had forgotten about the noises I had heard earlier, until that is, I heard them again. The soft thumping of paws, hitting the soft bed of leaves that made a layer over the hard ground. The rustling of leaves as something caused a breeze to pass by them. The sound got closer to me until it sounded like it was right beside me.

I froze in place, not wanting to turn around in case something was behind me, ready to spring out at me. Building up my courage I spun around quickly, scanning the forest but seeing nothing, only the slight movement of leaves where something had passed by them. Whatever was in the forest was headed away from me. Not that I'm complaining.

Quickly walking away from the wherever whatever it was was heading, I made it through the forest and out into the damp air, quickly followed by Edward and Bella. They smiled as they passed me and I slowed down to try and work out was had been in the forest.

Coming up with no ideas by the time I got back to the house, I picked up my bag from inside the back door where I had left it and got into the car, Bella and Edward already sat in the front. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett had already left in Rosalie's convertible.

As we left down the twisting drive, I thought I saw a flash of brown fur moving through the trees. Assuming it was Jake or one of the other members of his pack I paid no other attention to it, sitting back in my seat and concentrating on where the road was taking us.

Forks High School. While we had been living in Forks, the rest of the Cullens had attended other high schools in Port Angeles. They had finished the last of the schools the year before and now they were starting Forks high school again. They had had to do a lot of research before deciding to enroll at Forks high. They had to make sure that no members of staff working there would recognize them from when they went to Forks high years before.

It was there. Forks High. As soon as we turned off the highway. Small enough to be unnoticeable until you were staring right at it. It didn't look like a school. Just like a little collection of houses. The classrooms were all in different buildings. The school was surrounded by lots of greenery; shrubs, trees, bushes.

We joined the queue of cars heading towards the back of the buildings and parked in a space towards the back of the lot, beside Rosalie's convertible. It was immediately obvious that our cars were the newest in the school. Most of the cars were quite old. Getting out of the car, I was approached by Alice, excited, of course, seeing as it was my first day of school. She had spent hours the night before choosing out the perfect back to school outfits for everyone. Mine consisted of a pair of denim shorts, black tights, pink logo top and a long cardigan accompanied by a pair of white daps.

"Guys, come on. We've got to sign in at the front office." Alice danced over to me from where she stood by Jasper and took my arm, "and remember, you're the new Cullen foster kid, yeah?" She whispered in my ear, so quiet that not even the rest of the family could hear her.

"Yeah, I know." I muttered back. I hated everyone treating me like a little kid. Like I would forget who I was supposed to be. Like I would blow our cover. I had more sense than that.

Alice dragged me and the rest of the family back around to the front of the building and in through a set of double doors with a fading sign above them that read 'Front Office'. We walked up the stone path, lined with slowly dying shrubs, and stepped into the brightly lit, warm office. There was a desk down the centre of the room, splitting it in half. Behind the desk there was one door with 'Nurse' written on it. There were two receptionists sat behind the desk, both behind computers. They couldn't have looked more unlike each other.

One was a pretty, young girl with a waterfall of blonde hair down her back and the other was an older woman with short, dark hair.

The young receptionist was serving us. She looked up as Alice and I entered through the doors, glancing at us before turning back to the computer screen.

"Hi. I'm Alice Cullen and this is Renesmee Cullen," Alice said as she approached the desk. The receptionist took minimal notice of us, just typing away on her keyboard.

"Here," she said, thrusting some papers towards us both. "Fill in these."

"Okay," Alice said cheerfully, handing me one of the papers. "Oh, and these are my brothers and my sisters." Alice said pointing towards the others as they came through the door.

The receptionist glanced up from her screen and plastered a smile across her face. "Well hi. Are you guys new too?"

"Yeah," Edward responded, his amused expression showing why the receptionist had such a big smile on her face; she evidently fancied one of the guys. "I'm Edward Cullen" He said jabbing a finger at his chest.

"I'm Emmett Cullen," Emmett said, his arm looped around Rosalie's waist, "and she's Rosalie Hale."

"Jasper Hale," Jasper mumbled from where he stood near the door.

"And finally, she's Bella Hale," Edward chimed in, completing the group.

"Okay, here are the extra papers. You just need to fill in these forms while I print out your timetables," The receptionist said, handing out another five forms. "Then just get these papers signed by your teachers and bring them back at the end of the day," she said, handing out another seven sheets of paper.

"Okay, sounds easy enough," Alice said, distributing the sheets to everyone.

"See you at the end of the day then," she said, giving out the timetables.

We all filed out through the doors and Bella came and put her arm around me. Alice linked her arm through mine again and we all compared timetables. I was in most classes with Bella, as we planned. The classes I wasn't in with Bella, I was in with Alice or Rosalie.

My first lesson was English with a Mrs. Williams. I walked through the fairly empty hallways with Alice and Bella, both of whom were in my English class. We stood outside the door of the classroom for a few seconds, listening to the teacher who had already started her class.

After glancing at each other a few times, Bella stepped forward and gripped the door handle.

"So for the following terms we are going to be studying poetry and media,"

The voice of the teacher filled the hallway and everyone in the class turned their heads towards the door as they heard it open. "Oh hello. You must be the new students," Mrs. Williams said, the kind smile on her face matching her kind, motherly appearance. "So what are your names, girls?"

"Bella."

"Alice."

"Ness," I mumbled, Bella and Alice being much more confident than me.

"Well, take your seats girls. There are three at the back of the room," Mrs. Williams said, ushering us away from the front of the room.

The rest of the lesson passed slowly, the teacher going over what we be doing for the semester and when our exams would be. Emerging from the class an hour later, the boys were all waiting outside, umbrellas already up, waiting for us. While we had been in our English class, the clouds had opened and it had begun to rain heavily, as was custom for Forks. Our next lesson was Calculus, which I had with Rosalie.

We entered the class on time, the teacher paying no attention to us, simply indicating which seats we should sit in. Following our Calculus class, we all had Biology, then I had French with Alice and Edward, followed by Trigonometry with Bella and Emmett and lastly gym, which we all had together but decided to skip. Before Trigonometry and gym, we had our lunch break, one hour long.

Standing in the line for food, I could feel the stares of all the other students boring into my back. Throughout lessons, none of us had really made any friends. Of course there were a few friendly people who offered to show us to classes, but we politely rejected, everyone except me already knowing where all the classrooms in this school were. We had all sat next to different people in our lessons, all of whom had given us their names and we had given ours back, but nobody had bothered to initiate conversation so neither had any of us.

We sat at our own table in the cafeteria, ignoring everyone who kept throwing glances our way. We talked amongst ourselves, about various subjects including the people in the cafeteria; people we had met, what people were thinking about us, courtesy of Edward's gift. Most people just wondered who we were. Some found it weird that everybody was with everybody within the family. Others thought about who they thought was the prettiest or the fittest. We just ignored them all, gave away no hint that we could tell that they were thinking about us.

We all sat with full trays in front of us, completely untouched. Nearing the end of lunch, people started to clear the cafeteria. It had stopped raining but thankfully the sky was still black with clouds. As the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, we were the last people in the cafeteria. We walked, at human pace to our lessons, saying goodbye as we split up to go to our separate classes.

As we walked down the hall, Emmett joked about and Bella sighed, ignoring him. Same as always. The hallways were empty and so we speeded up a bit, although not to our fastest speed. We wanted to know that we had the chance to slow down if we saw anybody in the hallway. We entered our classroom a few seconds before the teacher did. He acknowledged our presence, making us stand up and introduce ourselves one by one but then leaving us alone for the rest of the lesson.

Trigonometry had never been something I had taken any interest in so the lesson seemed to drag on for more than the hour that it actually lasted. By the end of the lesson, I actually felt tired. Bella, Emmett and I walked through the halls, following the crowds until we got outside. Then we edged off around the side of the building, staying out of site and meeting the rest of the family beside the cars. Rosalie, Alice and Jasper were already in Rosalie's car, ready to go, and Edward was stood by the boot of his car, waiting for Bella and me.

"Hey. How was Trig?" He asked, taking our bags and opening the boot to put them in.

"It was okay. Not much different than other Trig lessons we've had before," Bella muttered, climbing into the front seat.

I followed suit and got into the back seat. Driving back home, I thought I saw the flashes of fur again, moving against the trees. I thought it was the wrong time for Jake to be out in the forest running. He had school during the day and unlike us, didn't skip his last lesson. Thinking nothing of it, I ignored it again, as I had done that morning.

It wasn't unusual to see a werewolf running around, seeing as half of the youngest generation on the reservation had turned into werewolves. Their numbers seemed to be growing by the week and nobody knew why. There were no new vampires coming to the area that we were aware of. No reported deaths to indicate vampires. At least not the typical type of vampire.

Pulling up onto the nearly invisible driveway, Bella commented that the trees needed to be trimmed back as their branches scratched along the side of the cars. I glanced through the back window of the car just in time to see everyone in Rosalie's convertible duck their heads apart from Emmett, who consequently got hit in head by a tree branch.

That's when I saw it. Running across the bottom of the drive. Nobody else saw it. The flash of fur. Bella and Edward were concentrating on the road ahead and everyone in Rosalie's car still had their heads ducked to avoid the branches. It was only me that saw it.

Normally it wouldn't alarm me; seeing a flash of fur running past. But this fur was different. It wasn't a colour I recognized. I knew the colour of fur of all of the wolves on the reservation and in Jake's pack.

If this was the wolf that I had been seeing running around recently, it was a young wolf but it had been a wolf for more than three days, and besides, why would a new wolf be running around by a vampires' house? It just didn't make sense. Surely a new wolf would want to stay away from a coven of vampires. Even Sam and most of his pack still gave the house a wide berth, even though my family had fought with the wolves more times than they had against the wolves.

The wolf disappeared, piece by piece into the trees on the the other side of the drive, until I couldn't see it anymore. Although it had disappeared from my sight, the wolf was still a vivid image in my head. Fawn coloured fur, soft features, young in age from the looks of it; only a teenager.

Turning back to face the driveway, I could see Jake, sprawled across the sofa in the living room, as was his fashion. He was watching TV, while Carlisle was sat across from him, seeming to be deep in thought. Jogging into the house, I collapsed down beside Jake, his hand instantly moving to my hand. Carlisle left, probably to find something and I turned to Jake.

"So, Jake," I started, his attention turning away from the TV and focusing on me. "Have there been any new additions to either of the packs recently?" To say his expression was shocked after I had finished my question would be an understatement. It was a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

"Well, I'm not really sure. There's been no additions, as you put it, to my pack but I wouldn't know about Sam's pack. I can ask around, find out. Why so curious?" He asked, trying to find the motivation behind my questions from my expression, which I kept carefully neutral.

"Just wondering, of course. I thought I saw a bit of fur in a colour that I didn't recognize," I said, knowing this wouldn't surprise or upset Jake. Sam never felt the need to keep him updated on pack activity and so never did.

"Hmm. I'll check that for you," He said, his attention returning to the TV.

"Thanks Jake!" I called, running out the door.

I stopped as I got to the forest, standing as still as I could, behind a tree, out of sight. I waited patiently, all the time scouring the forest for or any traces of movement. Things in my peripheral vision caught my attention numerous times but it was always leaves moving or an animal scurrying past.

I was getting and about to give up when something else moved in my peripheral vision. Thinking it was another animal, I didn't take the care I should have to keep quiet when I turned around.

Standing about 100 yards away from me was the fawn coloured wolf, now staring straight at me. We stood, staring at each other for what seemed like a millennia, we had gone into a sort of trance. I took a hesitant step forward, breaking out of my trance and disturbing the wolf's trance in doing so, although he didn't move from where he stood. I moved towards him, slowly as to not startle or scare him. I didn't know what i was going to do when I reached him. I was going on instincts for the time being.

I was about two steps away from the wolf when he took a few steps backwards, then turned and ran into the forest. Startled and disappointed, I turned with the intentions of going back to the house but something stopped me. A voice stopped me.

"Hey, wait up! I want to talk to you," the voice called.

I spun around, not knowing what to expect; it wasn't a voice I recognized.

Standing in the trees, where the wolf had disappeared, was a young boy. About fourteen years old with short, light coloured hair.

"Who are you?" I asked, moving back a step. Who could this boy be? Why was he stood in the middle of woodland? Had he seen the wolf?

"I'm Laten. You're Renesmee, right? Nessie for short?" He called over, inching forward step by step as I mirrored his moves, stepping backwards.

"How do you know my name?" I demanded.

"Luck?" He said, inwardly chuckling to himself.

"Tell me!" I screamed at him.

"Don't tell me what to do. Besides, I already told you. Luck," He said, a scowl spreading across his face and sarcasm flavouring his tone.

"Luck isn't an answer," I muttered, moving forwards. "Now tell me how you know my name!" We had both moved forward enough that we were now face to face. Well, face to chest, Laten being taller than me by quite a few inches.

"Luck is a perfectly fine answer, but, seeing as you won't accept it as an answer, I know your name because I've seen you around. I've heard people calling you Nessie and sometimes Renesmee. Depends on the person. And their mood," He said, his eyes staring into the distance.

"What? Have you been following me? Stalking me or something?" I asked, surprised.

Laten seemed taken aback at my questions. He stumbled backwards as if he had been pushed, his hands coming up in front of him as if he was defending himself. I noticed that he had begun to shake. First his hands, then gradually it began to spread. His arms, his legs, until his whole body was shaking. Then he turned and ran, full sprint, into the forest, the leaves shaking in his wake, animals scurrying away as the breeze shocked them.

**Please R&R! (:**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters :/.**

**Sorry about the late update, I'll try to make it sooner next time :)**

Chapter 4

For the next few days, I saw nothing of the strange boy who had appeared out of the woods, and nothing of the new wolf. Jake had asked Sam about any new wolves to his pack, but had made no progress; there had been more than five new additions to the pack, all with a pale coloured fur.

"Yeah, Sam said they had loads of new wolves joining. I think he said it was seven new wolves when I last spoke to him. I can't really remember their names though. I think one of them was Brandon, another was Jamie, and then there were the others, but I can't remember their names." Jake and I were lying on First Beach, in our usual seats by the forest. When we had first started coming here, Jake had dragged an old tree, collapsed from either age or a strong wind, and placed it in the sand, making a small bench. It was positioned perfectly, it was close enough to the trees behind it so that they made a nice backrest to lean on. It was just far enough back into the forest to remain unseen, unless you were looking for it specifically. You could still see the ocean, the waves crashing against the shore on rough nights.

"Well, it doesn't matter that much. I don't know the wolf's name and if most of them have light coloured fur it'd be hard for me to say which one he was. Which wolf was like the wolf I'd seen." I said, letting Jake pull me into his arms.

"Where did you see it anyway? You haven't been in La Push for ages," Jake said, his voice staying even, not suspecting anything.

"I saw it around. Not in La Push, just outside of Forks actually," I said, feeling his body tense slightly beside me.

"Your house is just outside Forks. That close to Forks or closer to La Push?" He asked. I could feel his body relax as he thought about the wolf being closer to La Push.

"Closer to La Push," I lied, knowing it would unnerve him to have the wolf so close to the house. He was worried for the safety of me and my family mainly, but also, he didn't like young wolves being around vampires in case they lost control. They could hurt not only the family, but themselves as well.

"Oh, okay then," He said, sinking down and resting his back against a tree.

I settled next to him, letting him pull me into his side. The whole beach was silent, the sun just setting over the ocean. The sky turning deep shades of orange, red and pink. The birds were silent, nested in the trees, a few flying overhead, breaking the sky's colour.

"I love nights like this," Jake whispered, his hushed voice tickling the back of my neck.

"Red sky at night, shepherds delight. Should be a nice day tomorrow then," I said back, keeping my eyes on the sun as it sank into the waves. "There goes the sun," I sighed, as I leant back into Jake's side, letting him support most of my weight.

Jake was silently chuckling beside me, "'Here comes the sun', Ness. By The Beatles, not there goes the sun."

" Oh. Well, there goes the sun, anyway," I said, knowing that if they could, my cheeks would be on fire.

"Yeah, there it goes," Jake said, his laughter dying down.

Jake began to hum the tune to the song 'Here Comes The Sun', his chest rising and falling in time with the beat. The tune became slower and faltered in places before it died out completely; Jake had fallen asleep, his gentle snores replacing the sound of his humming. Watching the last of the sun sink beneath the waves, I felt suddenly calmer then I had for a while; as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. An unknown weight, but a weight all the same.

Settling down onto the trunk of the tree, I stretched out, my body fitting perfectly alongside Jake's sleeping form.

_______________________________________________

"Jake" I whispered, "Jake." I shook at his unmoving form, hissing his name.

The sun was already blazing in the middle of the sky, the ocean sparkling brilliantly in the reflections. From the position of the sun, I estimated that it was probably about 10 o'clock, an hour after I should have been in school, although, judging by the weather it was one of those rare days when the sun shone through the whole day. Meaning a day off school.

"Jake!" I whispered, one last time, pushing him with all my strength.

He tumbled backwards off the trunk, his arms flailing wildly as he tried to find something to grasp hold of, his hands coming up empty. He sat on the floor between the trees, a bewildered look on his face as he tried to seek out any threats. Realising that it had been me who had pushed him off the trunk, he sat up straighter, staring me head on.

"What was that for?" He asked, his tone portraying perfect control.

"We fell asleep. Haven't you noticed that it's not exactly dark anymore? I had school this morning." I said, standing up and stretching out my stiff joints. It was uncomfortable to have to sleep all night on a tree trunk.

"Oh." Jake said, squinting up at me seeing as he was facing the sun. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He was badly in need of a haircut. "I suppose we better get you home then," he said, staggering up off the floor. "Face the wrath of Edward," I heard him mutter as he stepped over the log.

I giggled, unable to suppress my laughter entirely. Jake threw a bemused glance at me from over his shoulder, knowing what I was laughing at. Slinging his arm around my neck, he began to half pull, half drag me back to the car park where I had left my car. We got back to the car and I jumped in, leaving the door open for Jake to lean against.

"Bye then, Ness," he said, ruffling his hair.

"See you, Jake," I said, starting the engine.

"Let me know how it went later, okay? Let me know how much trouble I'm in before I come down there too," he said, leaning in through the door to kiss my cheek goodbye.

"Yeah. It shouldn't be that bad though. I'll call you later."

Jake leaned away from the door, slouching as he leaned against the car beside mine. He put his hands into his pockets, bowing his head.

"Bye, Nessie," he mumbled, the sound barely audible, even though he was stood beside me.

"Bye, Jake," I said, closing the car door.

I waved as I left the car park, Jake just ducked his head and turned towards the forest. It seemed like something had upset him, but I didn't know what. Nothing seemed to have happened that would upset him. I didn't think much of it at the time; it didn't seem that important. Jake was always being moody over stupid things.

I pulled onto the driveway, not watching the road, just daydreaming. It was then that I saw it. A single flash of fur, out of the corner of my eye. I braked hard, throwing rocks and dirt up from the floor. I got out of the car, walking towards the trees. I followed the direction that I had seen the wolf travelling in. I caught it up soon enough, overtaking it and then doubling back on myself, blocking it's path. The wolf wheeled backwards, panic in its eyes.

"Don't be afraid." I felt cheesy, telling the wolf not to worry. It felt like a badly delivered movie line. 'I come in peace' I felt like adding to the end.

The wolf seemed to acknowledge that I wouldn't hurt it, and started to relax. It sat back on its behind and stared at me. Then suddenly, it reared up, and dodged around me, running away. This time I didn't bother running after it. It obviously wasn't going to stop and talk to me. I didn't even know why I wanted to talk to it. It wasn't like it would talk back to me, reply at all. Just curiosity, I suppose. I wondered why this wolf was running around here all the time.

"Ness!" I heard my name being yelled from the trees. Jake was closer to the drive than I was and he headed towards me.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen! Get over here, right now!" Jake called, his tone playful.

"Jacob Black!" I teased back, "I'm coming now!"

I spun around where I was and ran to where I could hear Jake's voice calling from. He had walked back out to the drive and was stood, leaning against my car by the time that I reached him.

"There you are. You had me worried sick. Bella called to ask if you were still with me about ten minutes after you left. She said that she had heard you pull onto the drive but that she thought she heard you stop. She just presumed that you had come back to mine. That you had forgotten something, maybe," Jake rattled on, pausing now and again to take a breath between sentences.

"Sorry. I just fancied a bit of a walk." I lied. I hoped I was convincing enough for Jake to believe me. Or that he wanted to believe me enough that he would. Normally, he could tell when I was lying straight away.

"No, you didn't. Remember, Ness; I can _always_ tell when you're lying," he said, mocking me. "Why did you really stop?" His tone turned serious.

"I don't know," I mumbled, staring at the ground dejectedly. "I just did."

"I saw a wolf in the woods with you, didn't I?" Jake asked, shocking me. I swung my head up to look at him. He was looking straight at me, guessing my answer from my reaction.

"Thought so. Is it the same wolf you were asking about the other day?" He asked, his voice strained.

"Yes." I whispered.

"So you lied to me? The wolf wasn't closer to La Push then here, it was here," he said, disapproval and something else, something like disgust, colouring his tone.

"I'm sorry, Jake. I didn't want you to be mad," I said, returning my eyes to the floor.

"I wouldn't have been mad!" He thundered, the volume of his voice causing the birds to flee their nests. "Don't you understand the risks of being so close to a young wolf? What if he had lost control near you, Ness? I know you think you're indestructible, but you're not!"

"I know!" I screamed back, my voice getting higher in pitch, whereas his had stayed in the same deep tone. "The wolf seemed calm though. I just wanted to talk to it, and I knew that if I told you that there was a young wolf running around by the house, you would react like this! It's not fair! I have enough sense to know when to leave a wolf alone! I can take care of myself!" I stormed away, leaving him stood by the car.

I got to the house opening and slamming the door behind me. Bella and Edward were both sat in the living room, waiting for my arrival. I wasn't sure how much of what Jake and I had said, they had heard. I didn't wait to find out, either. They didn't look particularly mad or worried so I just ran straight past them, out into the garden, carrying on into the woods so that I was hidden in the trees and shrubs that covered the floor. I didn't stop when I reached the woods, I carried on, only stopping when I reached the border to Quileute territory. There, I paced back and forth, watching for any movement. The wolf was bound to have gone back to La Push and I considered crossing the boundary to go in search of the wolf, but Sam still didn't like us being on their side of the treaty line. He could tolerate it, but he liked it better if we didn't cross.

There was a sudden rustling of leaves, making me aware of the approach of someone. My heart started beating faster. You never knew what could come out of the forest. I knew that Victoria had liked to use the forest to hide when she was trying to kill Bella. I shuddered at the thought of a vampire trying to kill Bella, my mother. Especially if she was still human, and from the stories, she was an especially clumsy, danger magnet kind of human.

The person continued to approach through the leaves. Their footfalls getting louder as they got closer. Still not loud enough for a human to hear. I saw the leaves of a tree just the other side of the treaty line moving, revealing the presence of the person.

"Hi, again," He said, approaching me. "Sorry I took off on you like that before. Just being cautious, you know?" He said.

I nodded, absent-mindedly, I knew all about being cautious.

"Good. I didn't want you thinking that I was avoiding you. Or even worse, scared of you!" His tone had a playful, joking edge to it.

"You should be scared of me," I teased back, looking him straight in the eye, curling my upper lip back over my teeth, trying to do my best scary face.

"Well, that's definitely something to be scared of," He snickered.

"It is. Just be careful. You wouldn't want to get on my bad side," I said, winking at him.

"I'll try my best not to."

I laughed, leaning back against a tree, then sliding down its trunk until I was sat on the floor, my back against its cushioned moss trunk. He walked over towards me, stopping just before the treaty line and raising one eyebrow. I raised a hand, beckoning with a finger, making it clear that he could cross the line. He sauntered over to me, collapsing next to me.

"So what brings you to the woods?" I asked, turning to face him.

"I just fancied a bit of a walk." He quoted me from earlier, his tone mocking.

"What? How did you know that I said that earlier?" I said, astounded. I realised that my mouth was hanging open, just as he lifted his hand. He pushed my jaw gently closed with a finger.

"You think I was going to leave you alone with Jacob Black, while he was mad? He was talking about young wolves losing control easily, but older wolves can lose control just as quickly, and are usually, a lot more violent." Laten explained.

"What? How. . . . I mean, how do you know about the wolves?" I stuttered. If he knew about the wolves, could he possibly know about the vampires? How did he know about the wolves in the first place? How could he talk so coolly about them, as if it were completely normal for him to see wolves turning into men, and vice versa, all the time?

"Ness, haven't you realised it yet? I'm not fully human, either. I'm not quite as immortal as you, in all your vampire glory, but I'm not human either."

I was astounded. He knew about the vampires. He knew that I was a vampire, yet he didn't seem at all fazed or uncomfortable. He seemed completely at ease. And what did he mean, he wasn't human? He wasn't a vampire, I was sure of that. I reached out a hand, brushing his skin with my fingertips. It blazed under my touch. I gasped in horror, recoiling as if his skin had burned me. I looked up at him, the disbelief I felt, evident in my eyes, mirrored in his.

"You mean, you didn't know? Ness, I'm so sorry, I thought you knew. Please, don't be scared," he said, raising his hands, as if in surrender.

"No, it can't be. You. You're, you're a . . ." I stammered, unable to say the word. I just couldn't believe it.

"Ness, it's okay. I won't hurt you. Please, look at me." He said, trying to tilt my face up.

I hadn't realised it, but I had turned my head away. Turned it to the floor, dodging his gaze.

"Werewolf." I whispered, "A shape shifter." My voice was barely audible above the chirp of crickets and the song of the birds. I didn't know if had heard me, but he dropped his fingers, and sighed, his frame slumping against the floor.

"Does it really bother you that much? I can go if it does. I just didn't think it would," he said, his voice rising from the floor, floating through the still air.

"It doesn't bother me. Of course not," I said, my voice still not much above a whisper. "It just caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting it."

"I'll leave. It'll give you time to adjust," He said then, unfolding himself from the floor, rising fluidly in one motion. He was much more graceful than Jake had ever been. Jake. He would hate this. Me being alone with a young wolf, so far from the house, out of range of their hearing. He would be waiting for me. Back at the house. And he wouldn't be happy.

I sighed, there was no point in avoiding seeing Jake any longer, but I didn't want to say goodbye to Laten. I already felt a strange connection to him.

"Will I see you again?" I whispered, as he turned to leave.

He seemed taken aback at the question. "Of course you will. I'm always out here, running around somewhere." He said, "Just call out my name, and you know, wherever I am, I'll come running to see you again." He sang, Carole King's 'You've got a friend'.

I laughed, as he turned to walk away, still singing.

________________________________________________________________________________

Jacob's POV

"Ness!" I called.

She was bound to be in the woods somewhere. Hopefully, she would be away from the other wolf. The thought of the other wolf sent me in search of Ness. I launched myself through the trees, propelling myself until my legs ached. I didn't slow as my muscles began to cramp up. My worry over Nessie was too much. I needed to know that she was safe.

I heard her voice, her tinkling laugh, and then another voice, singing. I pushed myself even faster, something which I thought was impossible. I didn't want Ness anywhere near that wolf. I spit the word in my thoughts. I wanted Ness to be safe. She could never be safe around this new wolf.

"Jake?" I heard her voice, elated yet questioning.

"Oh, Ness. Thank God. I thought something might have happened to you. You know that it's not safe to be so far out in the woods."

"Jake, I was fine." She said, walking past me. No, storming past me. She was still mad at me.

"Please Ness, talk to me?" I was begging her, pleading for her to listen.

She turned slightly, throwing me a pitying look and carried on through the trees.

I sighed. It was obviously going to take a while for her to forgive me.

I followed after her, keeping a slow pace. I didn't want to catch up to her; she needed space.

I reached the drive, noticing that Nessie's car was gone. Someone had obviously driven it up into the garage. I walked up the drive, keeping to the shade of the trees. Opening the front door, I saw Bella and Edward curled up together on the sofa, not doing anything. I remembered a time that the site would have sickened me to my very core. I couldn't imagine ever feeling like that again about Bella. I could easily feel that way about Renesmee though.

"Hey Jake." Bella's voice floated up from the sofa, nothing more than a whisper.

"Hey Bells. Edward." I nodded, sinking into a chair across from where they lay on the sofa. "I think we need to talk. It's about Nessie."

I saw the instant alarm on both of their faces. One mention about Renesmee in any sort of danger and they were instantly defensive. They cared immensely about her safety, just as any parent would. They both bolted upright, Edward keeping hold of Bella.

"What is it?" Bella's words came out in a rush, blending together.

"She's been hanging around with someone new recently." I started, watching them take in the information and relax slightly. "The only problem is" - I watched as they both re-tensed their muscles, bracing themselves for the worst - "that this person is a young wolf. Inexperienced and particularly susceptible to losing control."

Edward's jaw clenched and Bella froze. Their individual reactions to bad news. I knew that if they were wolves, they would be shaking right now. Feeling the rage, the anger pulse through them.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Edward's voice came from his lips, almost silent yet full of fury.

"I thought that I might be able to talk to her. To warn her." I mumbled, I hated it when Edward made it clear that he was more capable if looking after Nessie than me. Even though he wasn't. I heard Edward's disbelieving sigh as I thought it. I scowled at him. _Get out of my head and focus on the imminent danger facing your daughter,please!_ I thought.

"How long have they been 'hanging out', as you put it?" He asked, not meeting my gaze.

"A week or so, as far as I know." I said. It upset me that I couldn't keep a better track of the events in Renesmee's life.

Edward shook his head, rising from the sofa and leaving swiftly through the back door.

"I'm sorry, Bells," I told her unmoving form. She hadn't moved a millimeter since I brought up the topic.

"It's okay. I know you will have already done everything possible for you to do," she whispered, following Edward through the back door.

I sighed, resting my head in my hands. How could I make Renesmee understand? As I was thinking this, I felt her small hand rest on my shoulder. I would have known her hand anywhere. She had filled my head with her memories, just as she did now, many times before.

I saw her. I saw him. I shuddered at the sight of him, hating that he was so close to her. They were sat by one of the many trees in the vast forest, laughing and talking. She didn't let me hear what they had been talking about, only showing me the images of them. They looked happy. Young and carefree. I could feel what she had felt when she was with him. Happy. It felt natural to her. She enjoyed being with him. She felt safe when she was with him.

"You just don't get it, Ness." I whispered. I didn't want her to get mad at me again. "You can never be safe when you're around him. It's just not possible, not when he's so young."

"No, Jake. You don't understand." She said, pulling her hand away and pacing back and forth, getting faster until she was just a faint blur.

"Then explain it to me, Ness. Because I just don't see how you can be safe."

She stopped, a sudden shape in the air, replacing the faint blur.

"I've tried that many times before. You never listen though," she hissed, her lip pulling back over her teeth.

"Try again then," I said, readjusting my position in the sofa so that I was facing her. "I'll listen." I placed my hands in front of me, palms out, towards her.

She sighed, her teeth still bared at me. Sensing her feeling of defeat, I watched her slump to the floor, folding her legs and leaning her head on her hand.

"You need to see that Laten isn't as 'dangerous' as you think he is." She said, making quotation marks in the air with her hands. "He may be a young wolf but he already has a good control over his anger. Remember what happened with Bella? Newborn vampires are supposed to be out of control, yet Bella's self control was impeccable from her 'birth'." More quotation marks with her hands.

"How does Bella relate to Laten? Things are a bit different for wolves than they are for vampires." I mumbled, moving to the sofa and stretching out on my stomach.

"Yeah, I know. But if something like that can happen with vampires, why can't it happen with wolves? And besides, if you think about it, I'm just as safe with Laten as I am with you."

I couldn't stop the anger from pulsing through my veins, causing my body to shake. Just as safe with him as she is with me? That was absurd! I rested my chin on the sofa, using it to calm the shaking in my head and my neck.

"How are you supposedly just as safe with Laten? That's completely stupid." I blurted out.

"I'm not stupid." Ness growled. "And I'm just as safe with him because wouldn't you agree that older wolves are stronger than younger wolves? They may have more control but they have a better chance of hurting someone if they do lose control than a young, weaker wolf. Besides, I could get away from Laten if he was about to lose control." She said, talking as fast as she could, getting the words out before she could change her mind about saying them. She looked up at me when she finished, anticipating a bad reaction from me.

My shaking from her earlier remark had not completely settled yet, and this just added to the severity of the shakes. Not wanting to hurt her, knowing that I couldn't stay in my human form when I was this mad, I got up, quickly, darting away from her. Through the door. I heard her mumble something that sounded like 'exactly' when I passed her, but I just ignored her. I didn't need to get angrier than I already was.

**Please R&R. Any ideas or criticism is appreciated :) Believe it or not ;)**

**Kirsty x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything to do with Twilight.**

Chapter 5

Renesmee's POV

"Renesmee." I heard Bella's voice call me from her bedroom.

I was sat on my bed, flicking through a magazine and listening to my music on my iPod. I had 'The Academy Is' blaring from the docking station that my iPod was nestled in so I nearly didn't hear her calling me. Sighing, I closed my magazine and padded across my room to pause my music.

"Coming." I sighed again, closing my bedroom door behind me as I left. I dawdled down the hall, not in any hurry although I knew that when I travelled at a normal, human pace, it tended to aggravate my mother. She wasn't very patient at the best of times.

I cracked open her bedroom door, waiting to be invited in.

"Come in, Ness." She said, turning from where she stood at her window and crossing the room to sit on her bed.

I entered the room, pushing the door until it clicked shut behind me. Bella patted the bed beside her and I went and perched on the edge. Bella moved up the bed, leaning her back against the headrest.

"I think we should talk." She started, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. She was fidgeting, an almost natural thing for her to do now. She had spent so long trying to perfect acting human that she did it subconsciously.

"Talk about what, exactly?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. What if she had heard me and Jacob arguing earlier on? Or had she seen me and Laten together?

"Well, earlier on today, Jacob came to talk to your father and I about something that was, and still is, worrying him." She continued. "He told us that you've started hanging out, as he put it, with someone new." She paused, waiting for a reaction. She lowered her eyes, seeing no reaction.

"Who is this someone new?" I asked, keeping my face-and tone-clear of any emotion.

"He didn't say what his name was, that wasn't important, but what he did tell us was that he's a young wolf."

She glanced up at me now, her long lashes distorting her eyes.

"_His_"-I said, spitting the word-"name is Laten. And yes, he is a wolf. Big deal." I rolled my eyes. She was such a hypocrite.

"I don't like you hanging around young wolves, Ness. They haven't got the self-control that is needed to guarantee that you won't get hurt." She said, using her 'sympathetic tone'.

"So you're saying that it's guaranteed that I won't get hurt if I were to hang around with an older wolf?" I asked, incredulous.

"Well, not 100% guaranteed, of course. But there's a better chance that you'll be unharmed, yes."

"That is such a lie, and you know it!" I almost yelled. I knew there was no point in raising my voice to such a volume. It would only attract the attention of everyone else in both houses.

"What are you talking about? I'm not lying to you! How dare you say that I am!" Bella unwound her arms from around her legs and threw them into the air as if she didn't know what else to do with them.

"You so are lying to me! What about Jake? And Sam and Emily, of course?" I could see recognition dawning. She hadn't thought of them. "You hung around Jake all the time when he was a young wolf. And Sam still hurt Emily even though he was mature." I pointed out, watching her wince at Emily's name.

"Those are only two exceptions though, Ness. Now stop shouting at me, please. Don't forget that I'm your mother and you should be treating me with respect."

I sighed, there was no point in trying to argue with Bella. She always played the 'I'm your mother, so I know best' card whenever she thought I had any chance of winning. I slid off the bed, landing agilely on the balls of my feet.

"'Bye Mum," I mumbled, slipping through the door. When I was safely out in the hallway, I slipped into a sprint, dashing down the small hallway and into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me and turning the volume of my iPod up to the maximum.

"And you can turn that racket off!" I heard Bella yell.

I stomped across the room, making sure the volume was at the maximum and then locking my door. I wasn't going to turn down my music if I didn't want to.

I heard Bella's door open and her unnaturally fast footfalls coming down the hallway towards my room.

She tried turning the door handle first, then not succeeding, she started banging on the door.

"Open this door right now, Renesmee. Don't make me break the door handle," She threatened.

"No. Just leave me alone!" I screamed.

"Dammit, Renesmee! Open the door!" I heard Edward thunder. His voice could always scare me when he was mad. It still sounded soft, luxurious, but it was just as threatening, as acidic as the venom contained in his teeth.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?! I can make my own choices!" I screamed, my voice breaking. I choked back the sobs that threatened to overflow my lids.

There was a timid knock at the door then, only just audible over the music that was still pounding from the speakers.

"Hello?" Esme's voice came from the living room of the cottage. Then Emmett's booming laugh filled the house.

"Of course there's someone here. We could hear them from the house." He sniggered, still chuckling.

"Oh, Esme, Emmett, I'm so sorry," I could hear Bella apologising. She still felt that she had to earn her right to be part of the Cullen family.

"It's fine, Bella. We just thought we could maybe lend a hand? It sounded like you were having quite an argument," Esme knocked lightly on my door. "Renesmee? Will you open the door please?" She asked quietly.

I sighed, unbolting the door. Nobody could ever refuse Esme's wishes. She was stood right in front of the door, Emmett was leaning against the wall further down the hallway and Bella and Edward were to the right of Esme. I faced Esme, she was the easiest to talk to.

"Now then. Would you like to explain what is going on? Without shouting, please." Esme said, taking my hand and leading us all to the living room where she sat on the sofa. I settled down next to her, not looking at anyone, just at my feet.

"It's not fair!" I wailed, I couldn't help it. "They won't let me make my own decisions."

"What decision won't they let you make?" This came from Emmett, still silently laughing.

"I'm only trying to stop her getting hurt!" Bella protested. " She wants to go running around with a young wolf!"

Esme paused, thinking. "I can see the risks, and I know you don't like Nessie's safety being in any sort of jeopardy, but I can see Nessie's point as well. After all, you were with Jacob a lot when he was only a young wolf, and you were perfectly aware of the risks then."

"That's what I've been trying to tell her," I muttered, making my voice only audible for Esme. She glanced briefly in my direction but then turned to face Bella.

"I know, but Jake was a natural. He had almost perfect self-control from the very start." Bella sat in one of the fireside chairs, resting her head in her hand.

"Almost." I pointed out. I wasn't going to lose this fight. "Laten's self-control is 'almost perfect' already. And anyway, it's my decision. I should be able to decide who I want to spend time with and who I don't want to spend time with."

"I'm siding with Renesmee on this one," Esme said, keeping her voice low. "Of course, I can't make the decision for you, you are her parents, but she has my support."

"Thank you, Esme," I whispered, waiting for Bella's response.

"Fine. See him as much as you want Ness." She said, getting up and storming out of the door.

I sank down on the sofa, letting the soft cushions surround me. Esme put her arm around my shoulders, pulling me into her soft embrace. I loved Esme's scent. It smelt faintly of citrus fruits, with a much gentler scent combined with it. After a while, she left with Emmett and Edward and I was alone in the house. Not wanting to stay on my own, I left the house and stopped outside the gate to the small garden that surrounded the house.

"Laten?" I called tentatively, feeling rather stupid.

The next thing I saw was a large wolf bounding out from behind a small cluster of trees. It had its tongue lolling at the side of its mouth and a huge playful grin plastered across its face.

"Laten?" I laughed, it was obviously Laten. It even looked like him. The wolf nodded it's head, it's eyes lighting up. I reached over, losing my hand in his fur, stroking his head. A deep rumbling came from deep within him, a sound with a close resemblance to cat's purr. I laughed again as Laten leaned his head further into my hand.

"You're adorable as a wolf, you know that?" I asked him. He shot me a dirty look then, and I put on my best innocent face. "What?"

He turned his face to me so I could see him roll his eyes. He stretched then, letting his front paws slide out from under him, landing on the floor with a dull, muted thud. I laughed, kneeling down to join him on the floor.

"Your fur is lovely." I said, entwining my fingers in it. "Exactly the colour of sand."

Laten turned his head to look at me again, his face bearing his huge grin again. He got up then, suddenly rocking backwards up onto his paws. I looked up at him questioningly but he just shook his head. I got up with him but he shook his head again, nudging me with his nose until I sat down again. Then he turned and loped off into the cover of the forest. As he did this, I noticed him playing with the rubber band that held a pair of jeans that was tied around his ankle. Realising that he was going to phase back, I felt embarrassed. I should have realised that earlier, not tried to follow him.

It had only been a minute or two before Laten returned, wearing the jeans. He was barefoot and had no top though, making me worry for a fraction of a second that he would get cold, but then I remembered that wolves had that funny thing where they were always warm.

"Hey," He said, an impish grin playing on the corners of his mouth. "I got tired of not being able to talk."

"Hi," I said, ducking my head. "That was fast."

"Well, it doesn't take that long to phase back and pull some jeans on," He said sarcastically, sitting beside me.

"I suppose not," I mumbled.

"Something wrong?" Laten asked, taking one of my hands and maneuvering himself until he could see my face. "Would you like me to be a wolf again?" He joked, "You seemed to talk a lot more when I wasn't me."

"Don't be dull," I laughed, pushing his face away and lying back. "I just feel stupid."

"You feel stupid?" Laten laughed, a quick, booming laugh that echoed off the surrounding trees.

"Of course I do," I replied, "I shouldn't have tried to follow you just then. When you were going to phase, I mean. That was dull of me."

Laten laughed again, a longer laugh this time, making his body shake. "Oh, Ness. You can be so stupid sometimes. I don't mind at all," He said, lying down next to me. "I just thought you were slightly perverted." He joked, winking at me.

I shot him a dirty glance, sitting up again, only to have Laten pull me back down again.

"Don't be a prude," He said, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side

"Don't be sick, then," I said, marveling at the warmth that radiated off of him.

He laughed, causing not only his body, but also mine, to shake.

"I think I'm going to start preferring you as a wolf at this rate," I warned.

He chuckled to himself, "But then you wouldn't get to hear my voice. And don't you just love my voice?" He teased, playing with a strand of my hair.

I reached up, running my hand through the front of his hair, "Don't you think it's weird? I mean, your hair is a different colour to your fur when you're a wolf," I said, speculating.

"I never really thought about it," Laten said, twisting a piece of my hair around his finger.

"Well, you're hair, it's a blonde-like colour, but you're fur, you're fur is the exact colour of the sand."

"Camouflage," He stated, chuckling again.

"Oh, of course. I wonder why I never thought of that before." I said sarcastically, mirroring his tone from earlier.

"So, if I'm the sand on the beach, who's the water? And the sky? And the sun?" He asked, sitting up and turning to face me.

"Well, if you're the sand, then we need two blue wolves for the sea and the sky." I said, grinning. "And then the sun would be Jacob."

"Jacob? Why him?" He asked, distaste colouring his tone.

"Because he's always been the sun. He was my mum's sun when Edward left. And now he's mine. He always exudes happiness. And of course warmth, but you wolves can't help doing that, can you?"

"I suppose," He said, pulling a face. I couldn't stop myself from giggling, he looked so adorable. "Don't laugh at me," He threatened, his eyes thinning until they were tiny slits on his face.

"Fine. But doesn't that take all the fun out of everything?" I asked, sitting up, and allowing Laten to pull me onto his lap.

"I suppose. But I'm happy here, just talking with you," He sighed, playing with my hair again.

"Something wrong?" I asked, his sigh had sounded quite woeful.

"No, course not. Just thinking, is all," He muttered, the sound muffled as he leaned his head against my back.

"What about?" I wondered.

"I can feel your heart beating. And your voice box when you talk," He said, laughing against my back.

"And I can feel your body shaking when you laugh," I giggled. "Now, answer my question; what are you thinking about?"

"You," He whispered, sending chills down my spine. What did he mean by that? Obviously that he was thinking about me, but what about me was he thinking?

"I'm sorry. I've spoilt everything now, haven't I?" He sighed. I could feel him running his hand through his hair as he brushed my back.

"Of course not. You just surprised me. You seem to have a habit of doing that." I teased, trying to lighten the mood again.

"I do," He murmured, leaning back on his hands. I turned around on his lap so that I could see his face.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I asked, admiring his russet skin, the build of his body. He didn't look overtly muscular, he was discreetly muscular, but well-defined.

He chuckled, "That's something I never expected to hear when I woke up this morning." He looked slightly abashed. "You're pretty damn precious yourself."

I giggled, looking down, hiding my face behind my hair.

The next thing I knew, Laten's face was right by mine, I could feel his warm breath blowing on my skin. He put a finger under my chin, tilting it up so that it was at the same level as his.

"Renesmee," He breathed. I let his scent wash through me, a mix of evergreen and something else that I couldn't quite identify.

"Laten," I pulled back slightly and he dropped his fingers from my chin.

He slumped back onto his hands again, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "Worth a try, eh?"

He smiled, but it didn't light up his face like his smiles usually did.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered, not able to look him in the eye.

"Don't worry about it." He muttered. I risked a glance at his face, only to find that he had turned away from me, looking into the forest.

Suddenly, he sat bolt upright, smacking right into me, the movement was so fast.

"Sorry," He muttered, not really thinking about it. His eyes were focused intently on the forest and so was his attention. He grabbed me then, standing up in one motion, swift enough to confuse me.

"Vampire," He spat, backing away from the place he had been staring at, not two seconds ago.

It took me a few minutes to get my bearings and realise what was going on. I could hear the slight movement of the approaching vampire, although I could not see it.

"Wait, Laten," I protested, "It could be a member of my family. How do you even know that it's a vampire, anyway?"

"It's not your family, and I can smell it." Laten said absent mindedly, his attention still focused on the trees.

"You don't know that it's not my family, you don't know what they smell like." I pointed out.

"I do."

I was gob-smacked, how could he know what my family smelt like?

"How?" I asked, bewildered.

"I've been around your house, remember? And not to be rude, but please, just shut up," Laten whispered, his arms starting to shake, rocking my body.

I was taken aback, but nevertheless, I stayed quiet, watching the trees. I realised that I should have been watching the trees the whole time, not questioning Laten. If there really was a vampire approaching then I should be concentrating on not letting Laten be put in danger by it.

"Dammit!" He whisper-yelled, spinning around. I could see it now, faint blurs whizzing through the trees, playing games, surrounding us. Now I was scared. This really was a vampire, and it really wasn't a member of my family.

Laten still had me pinned against his chest, spinning around, following the vampire. I wished Edward was listening to me right now. _Dad, help us_. I thought, hoping he was paying attention to my thoughts. _There's a vampire, Dad_. I thought, trying to make my thoughts as loud as possible.

Bella's POV

"Bella!" I heard Jasper calling me from the kitchen, the urgency in his voice unmistakable.

I ran, sprinting through the house. Jasper was in the kitchen, crouched in front of Alice, who was staring into space.

"Jasper?" I asked, I didn't know why he had called me. He was always dealing with Alice and her visions, it was easy for him now, almost.

"Edward-" He choked out, still focusing on Alice.

I was instantly alert, my eyes scanning the room for any threat but all I saw was Edward. My eyes made one last sweep of the room, re-checking for any threats. Nothing. My eyes focused on Edward then, really seeing him for the first time. Edward was sat on the chair, his eyes not focused, a panicked expression plastered across his face. Instantaneously, my breathing hitched, a human habit that had stuck with me. I rushed to his side, gripping his face in my hands.

"Edward." I said, enunciating each syllable.

His eyes never re-focused, his expression never changed, never faltered.

"Please, Edward." I begged, my hands cupping his face on either side.

"Renesmee." The sound was strangled, but it didn't come from just Edward, it came from Alice too.

My head whipped round at the same time as Jasper's. Our eyes locked for a brief second, the panic in our eyes, a mirror image.

Edward stood up, grabbing hold of the top of my arm, his body stiff. Jasper stood as well, grabbing Alice and shaking her.

"Alice, what is it?!" He demanded, desperation becoming clear in his voice.

"Vampire," She whispered.

That one word had everyone on edge. All four of us raced to the back door, where we met Esme, Carlisle, Emmett and Rose. My eyes met Esme's for a short millisecond, before we were all sprinting across the garden. I couldn't enjoy this run the way I normally enjoyed running through the garden. Esme had tended to it so carefully, delicately planting flowers, trees, shrubs, anything to give the garden a bit more life. But this run was tainted with exasperation, with fear.

We could be too late.

**Please R&R!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Dont own Twilight :/**

Chapter 6

Renesmee's POV

The vampire stopped, mid-circle, still disguised by the trees.

"You're not human, but your not vampire. But she. She's a. A vampire?" The tone was feminine, chirpy, like a high-pitched bird's call.

"What's it to you?" Laten's voice was a deep rumble, coming from deep within his chest.

"What _are _you?" The voice was stunned, panicked.

"What's it to you?" Laten repeated with more force, a growl escaping his chest.

"I want the girl." The voice was threatening him now. It seemed dark, vicious.

"Not a chance in hell." Laten spat, gripping me tighter. "She's not going anywhere near _you_."

"I'm not going to stand back and watch you, whatever you are, hurt her." The voice seemed authoritative, even though I had no idea who it belonged to.

"I'd never hurt her. And I'd never let you touch her."

The sound of racing feet through the forest made me turn my head, letting my gaze drop from the hidden vampire in the trees.

"It's your family." Laten muttered, whispering in my ear.

Surely enough, as he said that, Edward burst through the trees, always the fastest. His eyes locked on me then Laten and finally the other vampire. A slow snarl rose up his throat as he took in the scene.

"Put her down." Edward moved towards us, sinking down into a low crouch, prepared to pounce.

"Dad, don't." I cried, pointing towards the trees and the hidden vampire.

Edward turned, straightening and staring straight at the trees. "Who are you?" His voice was a low, vicious snarl, full of venom.

The vampire stepped out from behind the cover of the trees, walking out until she was completely visible, then she spoke again.

"I'm Alexandra." She stated, evidently trying not to let her voice give away how scared she was. She was beautiful, as was custom for vampires. Her skin was a pearly white, her copper hair falling just past her shoulders in perfect waves. She had a slight figure, she couldn't have been more than about sixteen when she was changed. Her eyes, blood red, were attentive, taking in every detail, every movement.

Carlisle stepped forward then, I hadn't noticed that he, and the rest of the family, had joined us until that point.

"My name is Carlisle," He announced, "and this is my family." His hand skimmed around in a small semi-circle, indicating everyone, except her, in the clearing.

Her eyes followed his hand, roaming over every one of us. "But that one," She said, pointing at Laten, "he's not a vampire."

"No, but that doesn't matter." He said, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand. "Now, tell me, what brings you here?"

She stuttered, not expecting his answer, or his question. "I don't know," She finally answered.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked, perplexed. "You must have come here with intent."

"No," She shook her head, a thousand different emotions crossing her face; confusion, fear, disbelief. "I woke up here."

Silence echoed through the forest. Nobody could understand what was happening. How could she have woken up in the forest? Someone must have changed her, but then left her to fend for herself. Or maybe they meant for her to find us. To find our family.

"She's telling the truth." Edward whispered, disbelief, incomprehension clear in his voice.

"But how?" Carlisle asked.

The family broke off into different conversations, all speculating about the sudden appearance of this vampire.

"You can let me down now," I said, looking down at Laten.

"Oh." He said, setting me down on the ground. He looked as if he had forgotten that he was holding me.

A cough brought us back to reality and our eyes back to Alexandra. She looked startled, her one simple cough had brought the eyes of ten confused people to her face.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled, her eyes dancing across the faces in front of her.

"Maybe you should come inside," Carlisle invited, still deep in thought. He turned to leave, everyone beginning to follow. "Follow us, please."

She glanced at me and Laten, the only two people not following Carlisle. We stepped back, allowing her enough room to pass by us and follow everyone else into the house. She took the opportunity, flitting past us, not trusting us enough to walk past at a normal pace.

She hung back from everyone else, following behind by a few metres. Esme stopped, waiting for her. When she reached Esme, walking slowly, tentatively, Esme reached out her hand, taking the girl's hand. Alexandra seemed worried, but gripped Esme's hand tightly. It didn't look like she would be letting go very soon.

As soon as they were all out of sight, Carlisle leading, and Esme bringing up the rear, still joined at the hand to Alexandra, Laten sighed, collapsing down into a heap on the floor.

"Now there's something you don't experience everyday." He muttered.

"Thank you." I whispered. I sat beside his crumpled form, taking his hand in mine. "I appreciate you standing up for me like that."

"What?" Laten asked, bewildered, "Aren't you at all freaked by the fact that a vampire just appeared? Like, out of nowhere."

I laughed, "Not really. I'm used to weird things by now."

Laten raised an eyebrow, an invitation to elaborate.

I shook my head, still laughing, "It would take an eternity to explain."

I watched through the leaves as the sun began to go down. The day had gone so quickly, mostly due to Laten. I always felt at ease around him, and so the time always seemed to fly past us. It was always so easy.

"I suppose I better go and see what the deal is with this new vampire then," I stood up, offering a hand to Laten. He took it gratefully, letting me pull him up off the floor.

"Good luck with that," He said, turning towards the treaty line, and probably, his house too.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, bewildered. Surely he would come with me.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asked, fidgeting with his fingers.

"Of course. Come on." I said, grabbing his hand and leading the way back to the house.

Laten followed hesitantly, pausing outside the back door.

"Come on," I said, tugging at his hand. "I don't know why you're so scared."

"House full of vampires, werewolf?" He joked, "Doesn't sound like a good combination to me."

I laughed, walking through to the living room. I immediately spotted Alexandra, sat on the edge of the sofa, next to Esme, whose hand she was still clutching.

"Nessie. Hey, you brought a friend." Emmett boomed, making his presence known. "Come and sit by us." He indicated the space beside him on the sofa adjacent to the one that Esme was sat on.

Seeing that the sofa was the only place with available seat I reluctantly walked across the room, still holding onto Laten's hand, and sat down, making sure I was between Emmett and Laten. I didn't need Emmett scaring Laten. Emmett grinned, stupid and mischievous. Like a little kid who was trying to execute a prank. Typical Emmett. I rolled my eyes, turning my head to scowl at Emmett.

"So what's happened so far?" I whispered to Emmett. Laten turned his head, eager to know what was going on.

"So far, Carlisle's been questioning her. It's like an interrogation." Emmett broke off to chuckle quietly to himself. "And so far, she's not given us much information. All we know is that she woke up in the forest yesterday and has been stumbling around. She has no memory of her former life except for her date of birth; August 27th, 1992. Which makes her seventeen this year. She doesn't remember ever coming to the forest, or anyone bringing her. She has no memory of being changed either, of what happened or who did it." Emmett summarised.

"Wow." I said, exhaling sharply, I hadn't realised I had been holding my breath.

Alexandra's eyes flung, searching until she found the source of the talking. She stared at me for a few seconds, studying my face, until a question from Carlisle pulled her attention back to him.

"So, Alexandra, you say you can't remember anything, except for your date of birth and your name. No people, no faces?"

"No," She whispered, "I keep seeing these flashes but I can't make out what they are!" She wailed, burying her head in her hands. Esme patted her back, her maternal instincts kicking in.

"That's fine. They might come back over time but you don't need to worry about them for now." Carlisle reassured her. "We'll try looking up recent missing person reports. We can try and see if any match your description, it might give us some information about your background."

Alexandra nodded, keeping her head in her hands.

"Shall we go up to my office?" Carlisle volunteered. "The sooner we try to find out about your background, the sooner we can try to find out what happened to you."

Carlisle rose from his chair, beckoning with his fingers for Alexandra and Esme to follow him. Everybody in the room watched the three of them as they left the room, up the stairs. As soon as they were out of sight, every gaze in the room flickered to Laten, sat beside me. Laten stiffened beside me, straightening his posture.

"Don't worry," I reminded him.

He looked at me briefly, nodding in acknowledgement but not relaxing.

"Come on then Ness. Introduce your new friend to us." Emmett leaned forward, hand outstretched toward Laten. Laten took his hand, watching the muscle in his arm tense up.

"Emmett." I cautioned him. "Leave him alone."

"I'm just being polite." He reasoned.

"Polite." I scoffed. The thought of Emmett ever being polite had me giggling.

"Well, come on, introduce us." Emmett grumbled, he didn't like being laughed at.

"Guys, Laten – Laten, my family." I sighed, gesturing with my hand.

"Hi." Laten breathed, squeezing my hand. I squeezed his back, hoping it would help to calm his nerves.

The rest of the family muttered hellos, occasionally nodding their heads.

"Well, I think we're going to leave." I said, rising, Laten following my movements exactly.

"'Bye, Ness." Emmett grinned.

I ignored him, leaving as quickly as I could.

"Sorry about that," I apologised, threading my fingers through Laten's. "My family can be . . . well, you saw how they can be." I sighed.

"That's okay," Laten laughed, back to himself again. Carefree, full of laughter.

"What about coming back to my house?" I suggested.

Laten raised an eyebrow, glancing back at the main house. "With all of them again?"

"No," I giggled, releasing his hand to jump the river at the end of the garden. "My house. The cottage."

"Oh," Laten said, recognition and relief in his expression. "That sounds fun."

I laughed again, taking his hand when he had crossed the river. We ran and skipped through the forest, enjoying the moment. We got to the cottage before any time seemed to have past. I opened the door, closing it behind us both.

"Go down the hallway," I instructed him. "My room is the first door on the left. I'm just going to grab some drinks."

I could hear him walking down the hall and opening my door. I went to the kitchen, opening the cupboard and pulling out two glasses and setting them on the counter. I walked over to the fridge, pulling it open, I wasn't sure that we had much in the way of food and drink, no one in the house eating or drinking human food. To my surprise the fridge was full, all sorts of foods, drinks, all stacked up. I grabbed a bottle of Coke, slamming the door with my foot before grabbing the glasses and walking to my bedroom.

I pushed the door with my foot - Laten had left it slightly ajar – and walking to the table, setting the glasses and the bottle down. Laten was sat on the small bench at the food of my bed, admiring a photo of the family that I kept on the dresser opposite my bed.

"Your family are so beautiful," He whispered, looking up at me, "but you, by far, are the prettiest."

I scoffed, taking the picture and sitting beside him. "Have you seen Rosalie?" I asked, pointing her out in the photo.

"Nowhere near as stunning as you." His hand brushed mine as he pointed me out in the photo.

"You need your head examining," I said, only half joking. Getting up off the bed and putting the picture back in it's place. I walked over to my ipod dock, aware of Laten's eyes on me. Without thinking, I pressed play on the ipod, deafening myself as the music blared from the speakers, still at the maximum volume from earlier that day. "Sorry!" I yelled, turning the music down to a bearable level.

Laten grabbed my hand from behind, spinning me around. He pulled me into him, dancing. I laughed, stepping back.

"I don't dance," I apologised, making him laugh.

"Nonsense." He stated, "Everyone can dance." He said, pulling me into him again. "Even you." This time I didn't pull away, I just let him twirl me around and sway me back and forth.

We were both laughing, messing around now, dancing around the room. Laten danced up to me, tickling my sides. Reflexively, I pulled away, still laughing with him. I dodged out of the way of his hands when he tried to tickle me again, running out of the bedroom, into the hallway. We carried on for a while, running around the house, laughing, until we ended up outside. I stopped, watching him run after me, grinning wildly. He ran into me, pulling me down to the floor, making sure I landed on top of him, unhurt. Although, how he thought he could hurt me, I didn't know.

He laughed under me as we landed on the soft floor of the forest. I rolled off him, landing next to him on my back, staring up at the canopy of leaves above our heads. The light of the sun had vanished, leaving the moon's silver light, filtering down through the leaves.

"It's a gorgeous night." Laten whispered, placing his arm around my shoulders again.

"It really is." I agreed.

We lay in silence for a little while, watching the leaves blow in the wind, making patterns, dancing across the floor.

"Ness." Laten sat up, gently removing his arm from under my neck.

"Yeah?" I answered, staying on the floor.

"Don't worry." Laten whispered, lying back down.

"You are strange sometimes, Laten," I beamed.

He laughed, shoving me gently with his hand. I faked a hurt expression, watching him laugh as he rolled onto his side. I tackled him then, pushing him onto his back and pinning his arms above his head.

"I give up." He choked out through his laughter. "You are one scary vampire." He mocked.

I sat back on his stomach, releasing his arms. "Of course I am." I grinned, flashing my teeth.

"But I'm an even scarier werewolf." He smirked, growling playfully. He grabbed both of my arms, rolling so that he was kneeling over me.

"You can't really say that while your human, you know." I teased. "It takes some of the scariness away."

"Oh really?" He said, raising an eyebrow. Another growl erupted from his chest, rumbling in his throat. He pinned my arms down on either side of my face, being gentle but not showing any signs of releasing my wrists.

"Fine, you're very scary." I muttered sarcastically, struggling against his hold. "Now. Let. Me. Go." I said, wriggling under him, trying to free myself.

The grin that lit up Laten's face stopped me in my tracks. It was dazzling. I found myself grinning back up at him despite myself.

"You're not going_ anywhere_." He said, thinning his eyes to slits, making the words threatening.

"Fine, you'll just have to put up with me for the rest of eternity." I said, stopping my struggling.

"I'm sure I can manage," He laughed, the sound reverberating through him, through me. "You're surprisingly good company. For a vampire."

"Well, you're rubbish company. For a werewolf." I scowled at him, just causing him to let another laugh escape his mouth.

"Is it wrong to say that I'm disappointed about that?" He asked, twining his fingers through mine.

"Yes." I grumbled.

"Good." He said, a chuffed expression lighting his face. "So, seeing as this is a hostage situation, I suppose I had better torture you. I wouldn't want you to think that I'm not a good captor." He grinned, his eyes sparkling.

"You wouldn't dare."

He growled playfully once more, letting go of one of my wrists only to grab hold of it with the other hand.

"Don't" I threatened, deciphering his plan.

He chuckled, making his free hand dance about in the air above me, teasing me. Then, suddenly, so fast that I didn't even see his hand move, he was tickling me.

"Stop," I gasped, writhing under his grip. I couldn't help the peals of laughter from escaping my lips. Laten laughed above me, showing no mercy. He released both my wrists, moving his other hand down to join the other hand, tickling me mercilessly.

"Stop," I squealed again, grabbing at his hands. He stopped, laughing, letting me grab hold of his wrists. "I hate you." I laughed.

He beamed at me, our eyes locked together. Then he started moving his head closer to me, freezing when he was a few centimetres away from my face, letting me make the decision. I sighed, releasing his wrists and winding one of my hands into his hair. It happened quickly then, Laten's lips crashed down on mine, gentle yet eager. One of his hands reached up, locking around the back of my neck. I felt my blood bubble under my skin, could feel the fireworks exploding. The kiss was magical, perfect. His lips parted under mine and I pulled away, gasping for breath.

"Wow," I said, between gasps.

"Yeah," He said, "That, that was something alright."

He rested his forehead against my own, breathing in and out steadily while I still struggled to regain my breathing pattern.

"You know what, Ness?" He breathed, his scent intoxicating me.

"What?" I asked, still breathing in his scent.

"I think I'm falling in love with you." He replied, kissing my forehead.

"Well, I'd like to think that kiss wasn't for nothing." I replied, my breathing finally back to normal.

Laten grinned a lop-sided grin, grabbing hold of my wrists once again.

"Oh no, don't even try it." I warned. He just smirked back at me, pushing me down onto the floor, pinning my hands back above my head.

"This isn't funny, Laten." I scolded him, "Let me up!" I whined, thrashing around under his grip.

"No way," He mocked.

"Laten, I hate you."

He laughed once, "Well, unfortunately for you, I love you, and do not plan on letting you go any time soon." He smiled his dazzling grin again, incapacitating me.

"I love you too," I heard myself admitting and at that moment, I knew it was true. I had only known Laten for a small amount of time but I had already fallen deeply in love with him. It was so easy to be around him, so natural, like we were meant to be together. Like we fit perfectly together, two pieces of the same puzzle.

Laten smiled, holding both my wrists in one so he could put one hand behind my back and pull me up so I was kneeling in front of him. "Could you repeat that please?" He asked, staring intently into my eyes.

"I love you," I said, ducking my head and burying it into his shoulder.

"Good." He said, pulling my face up until our lips met.

**R&R!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 7

So far we had deciphered that Alexandra wasn't registered as a missing person anywhere in the world. So either she didn't have family, or her family didn't care. We hoped, for her sake, that it was the first. She had no memory of a family to miss, which we hoped would make it easier for her if we found that they had died. The pain she would surely go through if she found that she wasn't loved was bound to be more. No child wanted to learn that her parents didn't love her.

Carlisle had spent many days and nights shut away in his office with Alexandra and Esme, Alexandra still not willing to be away from Esme for any length of time. They had checked missing persons reports from the last two years, all over the world, and no results had been returned.

Jasper and Alice had been searching through the forest, looking for trails, but any they had found lead to roads, and stopped abruptly. The owners of the scents had gotten in cars, choosing to drive away instead of continuing on foot.

"I had nobody," Alex complained one night after another day with no progress. "I wasn't loved!" She wailed, crying tearless sobs.

"I wouldn't look at it from that perspective, Alex." Carlisle tried to comfort her with words while Esme tried to comfort her through closeness and support.

"Why else would no-one would be looking for me? I'm only sixteen!" Alex exclaimed, her emotions a mix of frustration, fear, and abandonment. Her arrival had taken its toll on Jasper; he couldn't stay around Alex for too long; her emotions were too vivid, too depressing, for him to cope with. He and Alice had been tracking trails all over the Olympic Peninsula for the last few days, talking to close contacts of the family in some places, hoping for any extra information.

The whole family had been taking turns to join Carlisle, Esme and Alex in Carlisle's office, doing what they could to help. Except for Alice and Jasper, of course, seeing as they were tracing scents. Carlisle also had Alice watching the future, looking out for the return of Alex's creator. So far nothing out of the ordinary had come into her visions. She was seeing plenty of trends in the stock market, some shares doubling in value, some dropping in price.

For the time being, I had joined Carlisle in his office. Esme had taken Alex hunting, accompanied by Emmett and Rosalie. I was the only person in the family that Alex didn't feel comfortable being around yet. The bond she had formed with Esme was almost unbreakable now, like the bond between a mother and a daughter.

I was sat in the corner of Carlisle's office, curled up in one of the leather chairs that had been placed in the room. The chair I had chosen was right next to the windows, overlooking the forest. I had seen everyone leave to go hunting through the windows, watching the jump the river before disappearing into the dense forest. I had been in the office for over twelve hours now, counting down the time until I could swap with someone else and go to sleep. As it happened, Carlisle had received a call that morning from Alice telling him about a fresh trail they had come across that seemed promising and Carlisle had sent Bella and Edward to help them. So with Bella, Edward, Alice and Jasper traipsing across the country and the rest of the family hunting, I was the only one left to help Carlisle.

Carlisle had been very understanding though, telling me to sleep in the office, promising to wake me if he needed any help. So for the past few hours I had been dozing in the chair, waking to watch the sunset, the moon glitter in the sky. I was woken again by the change of brightness in the room. I looked up, seeing Carlisle engrossed in something he was reading on his computer, and then turning my head, looking out of the windows where the sun was rising in the sky. I couldn't see much of the sky at the moment, most of it being hidden behind the dense wall of the forest. I knew that anyone with weaker eyes wouldn't be able to see the sun, not as it was now. It didn't help that it was already pouring with rain, either. I waited, watching the sun as it slowly climbed the sky, emerging from the cover of the trees and their leaves. The light emerging from the trees light the sky, highlighting the rain that was already falling from the sky. It looked like it was going to be another dreary day in Forks.

"Renesmee?" Carlisle's gentle voice snapped me out of my train of thought. "Don't you think you should be getting ready for school?" He asked.

"What if you need me here?" I asked, trying to think of some way to get out of going to school.

"I think your education is more important. Besides, I won't need you. And Esme should be back with Alex and Rosalie and Emmett soon." He answered, not backing down.

I sighed, deciding to give up. I couldn't win against Carlisle, he always had the final say. Stretching out my joints, I rose from the chair, leaving swiftly down the stairs. I carried on walking swiftly, through the lower story of the house, out into the garden and through the forest. I pushed open the front door, wincing as it banged against the wall, and then slammed shut behind me. The house seemed eerily spooky when it wasn't filled with the sounds of my family or friends. It was silent, the dark floor boards making the whole room seem darker and more Gothic.

I reached my room, bolting the door behind me. It was a natural reflex now. It had always been a sign of safety but I knew that I had no need to be scared of anything that was stumped by a simple deadbolt.

I swung open the door to my vast wardrobe, silently groaning to myself. Alice had always chosen out my clothes and now I had no clue as to what went with what. Closing my eyes, I reached into the wardrobe, pulling out the first things that my hands touched. I re-opened my eyes looking down at my hands. I held a pair of black skinny jeans and a floral shirt. Suppose they'll do, I thought.

I pulled on the clothes quickly, adding a pair of dolly shoes. Next was my hair. Rosalie usually straightened it for me in the mornings. Sitting in front of my dressing table, I switched on the straighteners and started sectioning off layers of my hair. I was quite satisfied with the result when I had finished, although it looked nowhere near as nice as it did when Rosalie styled it. I grabbed my school bag, shoving my books for the day inside of it and slinging it over my shoulder before leaving the house.

I raced through the forest, realising that I was already running late for school.

"'Bye Carlisle." I shouted before leaving the house.

I opened the car door, flinging my bag across the seat, and getting in. The rev of the engine was comforting to me, familiar. The roads that morning was particularly slick. The rain had started during the night and hadn't stopped yet. It continued to hammer on the car as I drove down the driveway and onto the main highway. I turned off the highway, just before the small sign for the school. I followed the already formed queue around the buildings, parking in a space close to the main cafeteria.

I grabbed my bag, placing it back on my shoulder and got out of the car. I noticed Catrin, Becci and Maddie huddled under the shelter of the cafeteria roof. Pulling my hood up, I made my way over to them, waving at Maddie as I approached. She was the only one who seemed to acknowledge my presence that morning.

"Hi." I mumbled, aware of the glares that Becci and Catrin were directing at me.

"Ness!" Maddie exclaimed, hugging me tightly. "I was worried about you. Why haven't you been in school?"

Her question dumbfounded me. I had been so busy having fun with Jake and Laten, that I had completely about school. I had missed two days already. It was already the middle of the week: Wednesday.

"Yeah. The weather wasn't too bad so we decided to go and do some camping and things." I lied. That was everyone else's usual response if someone asked them why they had been off school.

"Oh, that must have been quite boring." Maddie paused to laugh, "Stuck in the middle of the forest with nothing to do. Who did you go with?" Maddie asked, seeming to be truly interested. Catrin had turned to face us, waiting for my answer as well. Becci was still turned away from us, talking loudly with some other people.

"I went with my family." I said, "Bella, Edward, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper."

"Where are they today then?" Becci sneered at me, "Your family. Coincidental that the day that you decide to talk to us is the day that the rest of your family isn't in school." Becci's voice was full of bitterness, resentment.

"They stayed on at the camp-site for a while." I muttered as Maddie and Catrin both shot Becci dirty looks. I was grateful then that I had such nice friends to stick up for me.

Becci rolled her eyes, turning back to the conversation she had been involved in before.

"Just ignore her," Maddie advised me.

"Yeah, we always do." Catrin added.

I laughed, following them as they headed towards our registration class. We entered building four, hanging our coats up on the hooks provided for the purpose. The classroom was filled with the rest of our year group, all talking and laughing in groups. Catrin and Maddie headed to their seats, ignoring Becci who sat beside Catrin. I took my seat on the other side of Maddie, as far away from Becci as was possible for the time being. Our registration entered the class then, banging his ruler on the table a few times to get everyone's attention. He then proceeded to call the register for morning registration in a dull monotone.

The teacher finished the register and dismissed us, a few minutes early, smiling as we passed by him as if he'd done us a huge favour. Really, it just meant that we had to stand outside or next lesson in the pouring rain, waiting for that teacher to dismiss her class. I stood with Maddie; she was the only one in my first lesson. I made my way to the back of the room automatically when the teacher let us in. A few moments later, Maddie sat beside me, launching into an interrogation about my weekend and the start of my week. English was pretty boring. Poetry was the term's topic. The only upside was Maddie, who kept up a constant stream of hushed questions and conversation throughout the lesson. The rest of the day passed quickly. I found that either Maddie or Catrin were all of my classes and so they sat next to me. Both of them kept up the conversation, and I found myself enjoying the lessons. I regretted trying to get out of going to school that morning.

I emerged from French with Maddie and started to head towards the cafeteria, meeting Catrin, who had had Spanish, along the way. Catrin and Maddie immediately started discussing their lessons and how their day had been so far. I walked with them, quietly listening to their conversation but not contributing myself. We got to the cafeteria quite late. We had taken our time leaving our classroom and walking around the grounds of the school, even though it was still raining heavily. Now, Catrin and Maddie immediately started towards the food line, dragging me with them. I told them I wasn't hungry, bought a bottle of water and waited for them by the till. I wasn't going to sit at their table without them there. Becci would surely tell me to get lost, and she would be backed up by the other people at the table, no doubt.

Catrin and Maddie both paid for their meals, coming to stand beside me. Maddie inclined her head as Catrin began to walk away, and I followed her to the table. I sat between Catrin and Maddie, opposite Becci, but thankfully, she ignored me. Cat and Maddie both tried to start conversation with me at the same time, giggling when they cut each other off.

"So, Ness, what did you do this weekend?" Catrin asked, and Maddie having already heard it, turned to the girl next to her, answering a question that she had asked.

"Oh, you know, this and that. I hung out with Jake and Laten for a few days, and of course, I went camping with my family." I summarised.

"Laten?" Catrin asked speculatively, her eyebrows pulling together in the middle as she thought about the name. "You've never mentioned him before. Who is he?"

"Hm, what was that?" Maddie asked, turning back to us.

"Nessie was saying about someone called Laten." Catrin explained.

"You never said anything about him to me." Maddie said, cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, didn't I? Sorry, must of slipped my mind." I laughed.

"So...who is he?" Catrin asked, grinning beatifically at me.

"Well," I started, not sure how to explain him to the girls. I couldn't exactly tell them the truth; that he was a boy that mutated into a giant wolf and I had seen him running around in the woods. They would think I was mad. So I settled for telling them some of the truth.

"He's my boyfriend." Truth, I hoped. It seemed like we were. Catrin and Maddie exchanged speculative glances before indicating for me to go on.

"He lives in La Push," I volunteered. Also truth. "And he's sixteen, too." Possible lie. I realised that I didn't actually know his real age. I had guessed at sixteen; he looked about that old.

"So when do we get to meet him?" Maddie asked excitedly.

I laughed, "I don't know, soon." I promised.

The rest of lunch passed in a blur of conversations with various people. Apparently not everyone felt the same way about me as Becci did. Most were just glad to see and talk to me.

Catrin, Maddie and I headed to Trigonometry as we realised we were the last people left in the cafeteria. Everyone else had left before us, but we were so engrossed in our conversations that we hadn't noticed.

We were still laughing when we entered our Trigonometry class, but were quickly silenced with a stern look from our teacher who had already started the lesson. I feel into my chair at the back of the room and Catrin and Maddie took Bella and Emmett's seats. We were still giggling silently when the lesson ended and we made our way to the gym. As per normal, I excused myself from the girls, saying my goodbyes as we got to the gym and turning around to head back to the car, pulling my hood tight over my head. The rain hadn't stopped all day, not even for a second.

I drove out of school, turning onto the highway. The roads were clear at this time of day and I could drive as fast as I could down the straight stretch of road. Charlie had been filled in on our liking of fast driving when he had been filled in on the vampire things. He didn't object to it anymore, knowing that we couldn't get hurt and there was no possibility that anyone else could get hurt.

I slowed as I came to the sharp bend in the road, getting ready to turn onto the drive. I could see Laten running along side the road in his wolf form. He had his tongue lolling, racing the car. Laughing, I speeded up a little bit, testing his speed.

He beat the car, of course. Werewolves had a similar running speed to that of vampires; incredibly fast. I pulled into the garage, passing Laten who was sat by the front door, tail wagging. Grabbing my bag, I got out of the car, leaving through the big garage door at the front, instead of the house door. Laten came to greet me as I emerged from the garage. He leaned down, licking my cheek.

"Ew." I laughed, pushing his muzzle away from me.

He laughed his throaty, wolf laugh and ducked his head.

"I've got to put my bag in the cottage." I informed him, starting around the side of the house. Laten followed me, wading through the deep ferns that grew wild at the sides of the house where the fields met the garden.

I ambled through the forest, hearing Laten's heavy footfalls as he followed me. I opened the door to the cottage quickly running through the house and dumping my bag on my bed. Laten had stayed outside, I presumed to wait for me but when I got back outside, the huge wolf was nowhere to be seen.

"Laten?" I called out, pushing through a group of trees. Nothing. He had officially vanished.

I wondered where he could be as I searched deeper and deeper into the forest.

Phasing. The thought clicked into my mind. How stupid was I? He was probably trying to phase and me searching for him couldn't be helping. Laughing at my own stupidity, I made my way back to the cottage, sitting in the small garden outside it. I planned on waiting there until Laten had phased and come back. He had taken under a minute to phase last time. Lying back in the grass, I closed my eyes. The cottage and it's garden were under the only part of the forest where the leaves overhead were so dense, that no rain ever made it through. Even in the winter; the trees overhead were evergreens.

"Renesmee?" My mother's shocked voice and her approaching footsteps woke me up.

Dazed and confused, I sat up. I was still lying in the middle of the cottage's garden. The only difference was that it was night-time.

"Mum?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"What are you doing out here, love?" She asked, kneeling down beside me, concern evident in her features.

"I don't know." I mumbled. "Must of fallen asleep." I added on, noting her worried expression.

"Well let's get you inside," She said, hesitating for a few seconds before pulling me up off the floor and into her arms. I couldn't seem to summon up the strength to walk myself.

All I could think about was Laten. Where was he? Why hadn't he come back yet? Had he come back, seen me asleep and decided to leave? That was unlikely. He would have woken me up, if not by himself then by the sound of his approach.

I thought of Laten all night, and then dreamt of him when I fell asleep. It was a pleasant dream that night. It was a replay of the last few days that we had spent together, his smile, his eyes, him.

________________________________________________________________________________

I woke the next morning to a sudden stream of sunlight bursting through the window and into my room. Bella smiled down at me, as beatific as the sun. She carried onto the second window in my room, pulling back the curtains on that window too.

"Get up lazy bones. We've got school today." She skipped over to me, pulling back my blanket and pulling me out of bed. "Alice and Rosalie will be here soon, so shower quickly and dry your hair." She instructed, not pausing for a second as she danced around the room.

My dream from the previous night banged against the walls of my memory dying to get out. Soon, my memories from the previous day joined the banging, finally breaking through my defences.

I sank back down onto the bad as thoughts of Laten filled my head. What had happened to him last night? Had something gone wrong somewhere? I decided that I couldn't go to school. I couldn't do anything until I knew what had happened to him.

"I'm not going," I announced quietly, making my face look withdrawn and sick.

"What's wrong Ness?" Bella asked, falling for it.

"I don't feel too good," I admitted, lying back down.

"Well maybe you should stay home today, then." She said, her brow creasing in concern.

"Don't worry about me." I instructed her. "And tell Rosalie and Alice that I won't need them this morning."

"Okay," She mumbled, moving out of the room and closing the door.

I waited a few minutes after I heard the front door close behind Edward and Bella before getting out of bed and getting dressed. After that, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, letting it hang loosely down my back. I jumped back under my duvet after that, pulling it up around my chin. I knew that either Esme or Carlisle would come down here to check on me soon and they couldn't find that I wasn't here. That would just cause unnecessary worry for them. They also couldn't find me fully dressed and out of bed; they would get suspicious then. I had been in bed for about half an hour and was starting to get bored and restless when I heard the front door creak open.

"Hello?" I called, making my voice croak.

"It's just me." I heard Esme call out gently.

I could hear her moving through the house, pottering around. She pushed open the door to my room a few minutes later, carrying a tray of food.

"Oh, Esme." I said, trying to look grateful. "You shouldn't have."

"It was no trouble," She said, laying the tray down on my bedside table. "Besides, all the humans have soup when they're sick. Must be something good about it." She smiled, kissing my head before leaving.

I took the glass from the tray, drinking the water slowly so Esme could hear that I'd made a start on my food. Of course I didn't plan on eating the soup, rather just tipping down the sink, which I did once Esme had left the cottage. I paused outside the bathroom door, watching the sunlight play on the gossamer webbing above my parent's bed through their open bedroom door. I didn't pause for long though; I had things to do. Running back through to my bedroom, I picked up my tray, placing the now empty soup bowl onto it and carrying through to the kitchen where I placed the bowl and the glass in the sink and the tray back on it's shelf. I rinsed out the bowl and glass quickly, making sure that I didn't get wet. I placed them upside down on a tea towel, leaving them to dry out as I left the house. I wasn't really sure where to start my search. I stood outside my gate, deliberating for a while before deciding to head towards the Quileute border. I dawdled at the border, hopping from one foot to the other, over and over again.

"Laten," I tried calling out, not hoping for much.

I waited a while, listening for any noises anywhere in the forest but came up blank. He was nowhere to be seen, or heard. I sprinted back to the main house, jumping the stream quickly, and dashing up the garden. I stayed to the edges of the garden, out of site of Esme or Carlisle. I edged around the side of the house, careful not to disturb the ferns or the grass and make them rustle. I reached the front of the house, ducking down below the glass walls and slipping silently into the garage. Knowing that I couldn't start up my car and make it out of the garage without being heard, I opted for one of the motorbikes, still there from when Bella tried to ride one. I, of course, chose the larger, faster, silver one that Edward had bought and now Jasper used. I thought that it was more likely that someone would notice if I took the red bike; it hadn't been used in about ten years. The silver bike, however, was used frequently and it would be less noticeable if it was moved. Plus, it was faster and easier to start.

I kicked up the stand, deciding to wheel it out of the garage and down the track, waiting until I reached the end of the drive to start it up and get on. Esme and Carlisle would be more likely to dismiss it as traffic noise that way.

I had never driven a motorbike before, I had only seen Jasper driving it. It took a few attempts to start the engine, pressing the start button and listening as the engine started and then died out again. I finally got the engine started, ignoring the looks people passing in their cars were giving me. I pulled the helmet out of the back compartment as I waited for the engine to warm up and pulled it on, flicking down the visor. I had to take my bobble out first, unleashing my wild, morning hair. I put my bobble around my wrist, ready for later. I turned back to the road, releasing the clutch slightly, a notch at a time, until the bike took off under me, pulling me along the road. I quickly got the hang off the bike, weaving in and out of traffic, eager to get to La Push. There had to be someone there who knew where Laten was; a member of the pack, a member of his family.

I took the bends in the road quickly, opening the throttle when the road became deserted. Everyone was in school or in work so the roads were clear. As I thought this, something very obvious occurred to me. I wouldn't be able to go looking for Laten because he was probably in school. Sighing, I slowed outside the store that was at the far end of La Push, trying to decide what to take as my next step.

It wasn't that early anymore, 12:00, so I decided to go and wait for him to finish school. I pulled up outside the A-Ka-Lat centre-where his classes were held-by the side of the pavement, kicking down the kick stand after switching off the engine. I pulled my helmet off, balancing it over one of the handlebars. I pulled the bobble from around my wrist, tying my hair back. I didn't dare pull the band too hard; it couldn't break now. Not when I had no other bobbles and no way to make my hair look presentable. I hopped off the bike, sitting down on the pavement. I stretched my legs out, avoiding putting them in the drains and puddles, instead putting them out in the road. I would move them when a car went past. After a while, I leaned back, putting all my weight onto my hands. Waiting seemed to take forever. I was normally a patient person, but now, I couldn't seem to stop fidgeting, stop worrying about him.

Across the road from the school, outside the grounds, there was a small, ornate clock tower. It was in the middle of a small patch of grass, dotted with flowers. The clock's hands seemed to torment me as they moved slowly around the clock face, always seeming to slow down. Finally the clock chimed out 3 o'clock, only five more minutes before their classes ended. I stood up, dusting off my clothes. I turned and perched on the edge of the bike's seat, mobilising my joints after sitting on the floor.

The first bell rang and one of the classes burst through the wooden doors at the front of the building. My eyes quickly scanned the crowd but there was no sign of Laten amongst them. A lot of them stared at me, taking in the motorbike, then quickly turning their heads away, as if they didn't want to get caught staring at the weird girl stood outside their school. My eyes flickered away from them, back to the building, waiting for the next class. The building was quite a small building. I wouldn't have thought it was a school if it weren't for the sign posts outside. The building also doubled up as a recreational centre. It was new, modern, and built out of wood. The gardens around it were landscaped, with three flag posts stood just to the left of the building. Inside the grounds, across from the school, stood a huge totem pole, mounted to a cylindrical concrete post. It was oddly threatening, yet it still held some familiarity. I was sure it would hold more meaning for the people on the reservation than it did for me.

Another bell rang, and another class exited via the front doors, more relaxed than the first class. Less students stared at me this time, just walking straight past instead. I did spot Laten in this group. He had frozen solid outside the front doors to the building. He would be in the way when the next class came out.

I lifted my hand, waving at him. He hesitantly lifted his hand, sort of waving back at me. It was a bit too stiff to be a real wave, I didn't know if that was due to shock, or whether he didn't want to see me. Feeling hurt, I lowered my hand, staying beside my bike. Laten stayed where he was too, just staring at me, until the next bell rang and he had to move for everyone else to get past. He walked slowly forward, making room for people to dodge around him when he got in their way. I waited; he walked. Slowly but steadily. Like the tortoise, but there was no hare to race now. Eventually, he made it to stand in front of me.

"Hey," I said, looking up into his face.

"Hi." He said, pulling me into one of his hugs. I hugged him back, grateful to be in his arms again.

"I missed you," I mumbled into his chest. He squeezed me tighter, picking me up off the ground.

"You mean the world to me, you know that?" He asked, kissing my forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too." I vowed. I glanced up, seeing him grin as he hugged me as close to him as he could. "Can't-breathe." I gasped. Laten immediately loosened his hold on me, placing my feet back on the floor.

"So where did you disappear to yesterday?" I asked, "You had me all worried."

Laten laughed, "Never be worried about me," He told me. "And I didn't disappear yesterday; you fell asleep." He explained, "I came back to find you but you had fallen asleep in your garden. I waited with you for a while, in case you woke up, but then your mum came through the woods so I made myself scarce. See? Nothing to worry about." He laughed.

"Oh." I mumbled. I had been so stupid, thinking the worst things.

"Now, would you like to explain why you are riding a motorbike?" He asked, eyeing the metallic monster behind me.

"Easiest vehicle to sneak out on." I said simply.

"You snook out?" He demanded, shocked.

"Course." I said, not understanding his puzzled look. "I would be in school now if I hadn't." I reminded him.

"And why aren't you in school?" He asked, running his fingers over the bike and it's mechanics.

"What's with the 20 questions?" I teased, "And I'm not in school because I wanted to see you."

"Isn't education more important?" He flicked my nose.

"No. You're more important to me. Besides, I can catch up the next time I go to High School."

He rolled his eyes. "Well your parents will be back soon and they won't like it when they find that you've snook out."

"Good point." I sighed, picking up the helmet. "I'd best be off then. Come by later?" I asked, hopefully.

"Of course," He said, holding the helmet above my head as he kissed me quickly. Then he let it slide down over my face. "Bye Ness."

"Bye!" I shouted from under the mass of plastic and other materials that now covered my face and mouth.

Laten laughed, lifting me onto the bike. "Don't crash." He warned me.

I giggled; as if that would make any difference to me. I clicked the start button, listening as the engine started on the first go. Laten leaned down, kissing the top of my helmet one last time before standing back and letting me pull away from the curve. I saw him waving in my rear-view mirror and I lifted my hand, waving back.

The roads on the way back to Forks were more congested, people picking kids up from school, driving home from work. I weaved through most of the traffic, Laten was right; my parents wouldn't be happy when they found that I'd snook out. They wouldn't be happy that I'd lied to them either. I raced down the roads, turning quickly onto the drive, almost toppling the bike. I stopped at the bottom of the drive, shutting off the engine and wheeling the bike the rest of way. Thankfully, the Quileute students finished school before everyone in Forks. I had 25 minuted from when Laten finished to when my parents finished. Plenty of time, apparently. I got home with a few minutes to spare, darting round the back of the main house and going in through the back door.

"Esme!" I called, "It's just me." I informed her.

"Alright Ness." She called back from the kitchen. "You feeling better now?" She checked.

"Yeah, much." I said. "Think it might just have been exhaustion. I'm just going to wait for Bella and Edward to get back." I settled myself on the sofa, curling my knees up.

"Alright then." She called back.

Bella and Edward got home about an hour later than everyone else; they had taken a detour to do some quick hunting. When they got home, they were happy, laughing, and as per usual, Bella's clothes were splattered with blood and slightly torn. They had obviously gone a little farther afield and found some wilder animals. Wilder than elk, anyway.

I tried to keep my thoughts away from Laten and my day outside his school as they came through the door. I didn't want Edward picking up my thoughts and catching me out.

"Ness!" Bella exclaimed, rushing to my side.

"Mum, I'm fine, get off me." I whined, pushing her away. She let me shove her away although I knew she was much stronger than me.

"So have you been hear all day?" Edward asked, not really concentrating on the conversation.

"Not exactly," I said. I figured that I should keep as close to the truth as possible. "I've been in the cottage, obviously, and I took a walk through the forest after lunch."

"You should have stayed in the cottage or here." Bella frowned.

I laughed, if only she knew where I had really been. Laten and his school filled my head. I pictured us outside the school, our happy reunion. I had forgotten about Edward until he abruptly turned towards me and scowled. I shrugged, _I was worried about him, _I reasoned. He knew the feeling that I meant, that I was showing him now. His face softened slightly and he inclined his head toward the back door. I rose quickly from the sofa, waving slightly as I left the house.

I sprinted through the garden and over the river, stopping when I rammed straight into Laten, knocking him, in his human form, to the floor.

"Sorry." I cringed.

Laten shook his head, leaning back on his elbows, "You are one fast little vampire." He laughed and I sat by him, spending the rest of the evening with him, laughing, messing around. It was so easy to be with him. And I didn't ever want it to end.

**R&R!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I had had a long day at school, all the lessons seemed to drag on for longer than their designated hours. The relief I felt as I left the classroom of my last lesson washed over me as I walked through the crowded parking lot. Edward and Bella had already left in Edward's Volvo. The rest of the family was piling into Rosalie's convertible as I reached them. Alice was the only one that glanced round at the sound of my approach.

"Ness!" She squealed, launching herself across the parking lot to where I stood.

"Alice." I laughed as I caught her in my arms. "Happy today?"

She laughed, hugging me back. "I'm coming with you today." She announced, striding towards the passenger door.

"Um," I mumbled, slightly shocked. Alice always rode to and from school with Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper. "If you want to."

"Unlock the door?" She said, intending her question to sound like a demand. It didn't, of course. Well, not much. Her voice was too high, too bell-like to be demanding. I still pulled the key out of my pocket, unlocking the door so she could slide into the seat. I could see her throwing her bag over the centre console, onto the back seats. I sighed, throwing my bag in the boot before getting into the car.

"So what's your motive for riding with me, today?" I asked as soon as we had left school grounds.

"Well," Alice started, looking uncomfortable. "Actually, I'm supposed to be talking to you about the _dog_ that you're dating." She stated.

I choked slightly, although, on what, I do not know. Thin air, probably. "_Dog_?" I repeated.

"Yeah, you know, Laten." Alice said, gazing out the window at the passing trees.

I sighed loudly, emphasising my distaste for the word. Alice twisted in her seat, turning to face me. She rolled her eyes as she did.

"Look, we're just a little worried. We want you to be careful." She said, shrugging her tiny shoulders.

I rolled _my_ eyes this time. Hadn't I already had this speech off just about everyone else?

"I know." I mumbled.

"Good. That's my job done then." Alice said, grinning. I scowled at her. "Don't be so mad." She giggled.

We had pulled into the garage by this time and Alice opened her door, swinging her legs out and taking Jasper's waiting hand.

"I thought you weren't meant to irritate her?" I heard Jasper mumble to Alice. Alice didn't answer him.

I got out of the car after they left the garage, grabbing my bag from the boot of the car before heading indoors. The living room was deserted as I entered it, as was the kitchen. Not caring enough to wonder where everyone was, I left through the back doors, nearly colliding with Jacob as he tried to come through the doors, making me drop my bag and him to drop the stack of books he was carrying.

"Woah, sorry." He said, grabbing the tops of my arms to steady me.

"Uh, thanks." I said as he let go of me.

"Sure, sure." Jake said, an impish grin playing with his features.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked, slinging my bag back over my shoulder. "Studying?" I snorted, taking in the cover of one of the books. _Revise: Biology._

Jake chuckled as he leant down to gather up his new library. "Nah, just helping Carlisle with his books."

"Carlisle is revising his biology?" I asked speculatively.

"What?" Jake asked, a bewildered look crossing his face.

"The book." I said, pointing it out in the stack in his arms.

"Ah," He laughed. "No, these must be from when of the other bloodsuckers studied biology." He grimaced.

"Right." I said, "Where are you taking them?"

"Carlisle's office." He said, adjusting the way the books rested in his arms.

"Here," I said, taking some of the books. "Give me some."

"I'm fine," Jake insisted, dodging out of my reach after I had taken two books.

I rolled my eyes, turning around and leading the way to Carlisle's office. We reached the room, pausing for an instant outside.

"Come in." Carlisle called from inside. I pushed the door open, holding it while Jake came through.

To say that Carlisle's office was messy would be an understatement. Books were piled up all over the floor. Some of the piles had fallen down already and others were wobbling, threatening to collapse. Large and slightly smaller cardboard boxes were leaned against the now empty bookcases all around the room. I saw that the big boxes were full of planks of wood, and the smaller ones were full of metal brackets. Shelving.

"Wow, Carlisle." I said, taking in the amount of boxes and then the amount of free wall space. "Are you sure you can fit in those shelves?"

"I'll try." Carlisle replied, grimacing. There were already shelves taking up most of the wall space, and Carlisle's office was a high ceilinged room.

"I really need a clear out." Carlisle said pleasantly as he got down off the ladder he had been standing on. "There we are." He said, rubbing his hands together. "One shelf up." He stood back to admire his handy work as I dropped the books I was holding on top of the pile of books that Jake had just set down.

"Why don't you have a clear out then, Carlisle?" Jake asked, pulling Carlisle's attention away from his shelves. "You probably won't need them again, what with your photographic memory and everything."

"I just couldn't bear to throw any of them out," Carlisle said, looking wistfully at the stacks of books piled around the room. "They hold a certain sentimental value." Carlisle told him. "I think that's it for now of the books, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, that's all of them." Jake replied. "I'll head off then." He mumbled.

"Why?" I asked, following him out of the room and down the stairs.

"Why what?" He asked, pausing on the stairs to face me.

"Why are you taking off?"

"I just thought I should." He mumbled, turning back around and carrying on down the stairs.

"We-e-e-e-e-ll," I said, stretching out the word so that it had more than it's one syllable, making Jake stop and turn around again. "Seeing as you're already here, why don't you stay? We haven't hung out in ages." I reasoned.

"Yeah, sure." Jake said, grinning.

"Great." I danced down the stairs, taking his hand as I passed him. "So what do you want to do?" I asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

Jake chuckled. "You're always well prepared, aren't you, Ness?" He mocked.

I ducked my head, hiding it underneath my hair as he continued to laugh at me.

"C'mon," Jake said, still laughing, pulling me along by the hand that he held.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I watched the floor, concentrating on not falling over as we ran through the rain.

"For a run." Jacob replied sarcastically. He pulled us into the woods that bordered the driveway, where the rain couldn't get at us. I slowed then, pulling him back when he didn't.

"Tell me where we're going!" I moaned at him.

Jacob laughed, the sound reverberating off the surrounding trees. "Are you trying to be threatening?" He teased.

"I could scare you if I wanted to." I stropped. "But at the moment, I just want to know where you're taking me."

"You'll soon find out." Jacob grinned,speeding up his pace and then turning back on himself. "Fancy a ride?" He asked, his body already starting to shiver.

"That depends." I said, raising one eyebrow at him sceptically. "How far is it?"

"A couple of miles." Jake shrugged. "You may as well accept a ride, Ness. I might outrun you otherwise. Then how would you know where to go?" He teased.

"You could never outrun me." I muttered, scowling at him playfully.

"Are you sure you're willing to risk it?"

"No." I admitted, laughing.

"Then jump on." He said before the last convulsion of his body sent the huge wolf ripping out of his body. It still shocked me now when Jake phased, even though I had seen it so many times before. How could the huge wolf fit inside Jake's body? Yes, his body is large, compared to most people, but compared to the wolf, it's tiny. I always worry that it's going to hurt him, too. That when the huge wolf erupts from inside of him, seeming to tear his skin off, that he'll get hurt. Or that something will go wrong, and the wolf won't come out of him. His body will just erupt, tearing itself apart . . . . .

A low whine escaped Jacob's lips and I snapped my head around to look at him. He tilted his head towards his back, then nudged me with the tip of his nose.

"Ew, Jake!" I complained, jumping away from his touch. "You're. Nose. Is. All. Wet!" I gasped out before I was completely taken over by laughter. I looked up in time to see Jacob role his eyes at me. I let my laughter calm down before I clambered onto his back. "So where to now?" I asked, grabbing hold of some of the fur on the back of his neck. Jacob just turned his head and looked at me, a sarcastic expression on his face. I giggled, realising my error. "Sorry."

Jacob shook his head infinitesimally before stretching out his legs and bolting through the forest. I loved running with Jake. I loved the feel of his huge feet striking the ground, the crunch of earth under his paws, the birds fleeing in fear. The ride was exhilarating, fun. I kept my face close to Jake's back, burying it in his shoulder blades. I could feel the thrum of his steady heartbeat, his legs moving, the soft fur of his back emphasising the actions as it brushed against my face. I sighed, settling in and turning my head to the side as I watched the trees whizzing past at what would be dizzying speeds for a human. The trees began to thin eventually and I got the strange sense that we were running uphill. I risked a look ahead, and sure enough, the ground was on a gentle slope upward. The trees down either side got thinner and thinner toward the top, which made me wonder if they would stop. I pulled my face back into Jacob's shoulders before I could get too distracted. There had already been one incident where I had been watching what was going on around me, not paying attention, and fallen off the huge werewolf. Of course, I wasn't injured. Just embarrassed.

Jake slowed as we approached the top of the hill, his footfalls becoming more infrequent. I lifted my head again as we slowed to a stop, looking around at our new surroundings. We were stood on top of what looked like a mountain. The trees stopped on one side of us as we reached the top, but stayed on the other side, spreading backwards into a vast forestland. Opposite the forest was the edge of the mountain, the ground sloping gently down towards the Quileute reservation. The ground was covered in bright, green grass, unusually spring-like for Forks. There were flowers scattered everywhere, small, delicate flowers, blossoming into life. The views down into the reservation were breathtaking. We had a full view of First Beach, the sea stretching out in front of it, the forest ranges, the mountains.

"I can see your house, Jake!" I gasped, pointing to the small, red house, nestled amongst the trees.

Jake laughed. "You can see all of the reservation from here." Jake informed me. He had phased back while I had tried to absorb my surroundings.

"It's. It's." I stammered, unable to find a word suitable. "_Incredible." _I whispered, letting my eyes rove over the views.

"It sure is." Jake sighed, dropping to the floor beside where I stood. "Sit down." He whispered, reaching up and pulling on my hand. I let him pull me down next to him, stretching out my legs in front of me. I leant back on my hands, staring up at the clouds in the sky. They made thick blanket of white across the sky, breaking further into the reservation where they turned black.

"Looks like it's going to rain," I sighed, pointing at the blacker clouds in the distance.

"Not for a while though." Jake replied, lying back on the grass. I watched as the grass swayed in the wind, brushing against Jacob's body. "What?" Jacob asked tentatively, noticing my stare.

"Nothing." I mumbled, turning my head away. I stared at the clouds again, watching as they slowly rolled towards us. I risked another glance at Jake, seeing that he had turned his head to watch something in the trees. I followed his gaze and saw a small family of mice, scurrying into the trees and into a pre-dug hole. The last mouse stopped before the opening of the hole, dropping the bits he was carrying so they rolled down, into the ground. Then he scurried into the hole, kicking up some loose dirt as his feet pushed off against the ground. I looked back to Jacob, watching his gaze as it roamed the forest floor and canopy, looking for other signs of wildlife. He looked smaller than his almost 7ft body usually looked, lying there. He looked more approachable, less dangerous.

"What?" Jake asked again, chuckling this time.

"What?" I repeated, bewildered.

"You keep staring at me!" Jake protested.

"Do I?" I mumbled.

"Yes." He laughed.

"Sorry." I giggled. "I won't do it again."

Jacob rolled his eyes, leaning up on one elbow. "Sure, sure." He patronized me.

We spent the afternoon on top of the mountain, leaving only when the rain started to break through the clouds, threatening to drench us.


End file.
